Over 1,000 nurses struck from payroll in Zimbabwe
A further 1,280 nurses face disciplinary hearings for refusing to work.
RUSTENBURG, November 4 (ANA) – More than 1,000 defiant nurses in Zimbabwe have been removed from the payroll and others face disciplinary hearings, according to media reports on Wednesday.
The Health Services Board has removed 1,032 nurses from its payroll after they declined to resume normal working hours and insisted on either not working or working sharply reduced hours, daily newspaper The Herald reported.
A further 1,280 nurses face disciplinary hearings for refusing to work.
The Herald further reports that nurses had crafted a working schedule where they worked for a few hours a week, but the arrangement proved unsustainable, resulting in the government cancelling the plan and ordering a return to normal duty rosters.
Many nurses returned to work, but others have been pushing for salary increments during ongoing negotiations between nurses’ representatives and the government.
Independent daily newspaper NewsDay reported that Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa told journalists on Tuesday that the government would replace striking nurses with military nurses.
NewsDay reported that public servants have rejected the government’s additional 20% salary offer to Z$16,430 (US$45).
Public servants have been demanding a salary hike to match the rate of inflation, with teachers demanding at least US$520, but the government has shot down demands for US-dollar-based salaries.
The government last month offered workers a 40% increase and converted the US$75 Covid-19 allowance introduced in June to be part of their monthly salary, but the workers insist that the increase was not enough given the country’s hyper-inflationary environment.
Last month the government announced it would pay an equivalent of US$500 in funeral assistance when civil servants die.
– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher