Staff Reporter
Rogue teachers’ union, the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) is inciting teachers and other Government workers to engage in industrial action starting next week.
According to a source who spoke to the publication on condition of anonymity, ARTUZ leadership comprising of Obert Masaraure, Dirk Frey and Robson Chere, held a meeting early this week and resolved to bring the country to a standstill by inciting Government workers to down tools in a bid to force the employer to pay a 100 percent salary increment.
“ARTUZ leadership held a meeting early this week and discussed that teachers should embark on a mass job industrial action. During the meeting, they agreed that teachers should down tools until Government starts paying them at least US$540.00 or its equivalent at parallel market rate,” said the source.
The same source added that ARTUZ resolved to engage with other teachers’ union such as the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ), the Zimbabwe Teachers Association (ZIMTA) and other civil servants so that they could all be involved in the planned mass job action.
In a tweet yesterday, ARTUZ confirmed that they were mobilising all Government workers to down tools before end of this month.
However, political commentator, Tafadzwa Matyaire said that it was not surprising that ARTUZ was planning to cause chaos in the country because it was a well-known puppet of the West and was being used to destabilize the country ahead of this year’s elections.
“ARTUZ is a well-known foot soldier of the West for its regime change agenda in Zimbabwe. The union has become a huge annoyance in their bid to please their master. They create an image of a country with a poor human rights record, while fomenting public dissatisfaction. Indeed, there are economic challenges in the country, but the Government is working flat out to stabilize the economy. These unions are simply not interested in a stable Zimbabwe especially now as we head towards the harmonized elections. They are on a mission to push the country to a boiling point to make the people restless and ungovernable,” said Matyaire.
Meanwhile, Matyaire commended the Government for continuing to improve civil servants’ working conditions as evidenced by the recent awarding of a 100 percent salary hike.
