By Staff Reporter

The Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) has scoffed at government claims that civil servants are earning wages above the poverty datum line, calling the remarks “an insult”.

Reacting to Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Deputy Minister Kudakwashe Mnangagwa, remarks in Parliament where he said the lowest-paid civil servants now earns above the Poverty Datum Line and that government salaries have become competitive, the union said teachers were struggling with low wages. 

In a statement, the union said the government’s position was at variance with the reality on the ground.

“The struggle for a living wage is the struggle for dignity,” the union said. “The claim that civil servants are earning competitive salaries is a grave insult to teachers and public sector workers who continue to endure brutal economic exploitation. By any objective regional comparison, these wages are neither competitive nor dignified,” the union said.

ARTUZ said most teachers earn between US$250 and US$300 per month, which it argued is far below the cost of living in Zimbabwe where basic expenses such as rent, transport, food and medical aid push the minimum monthly cost of survival for a family well above US$1 400.

ARTUZ also accused government of undermining workers’ constitutional rights by failing to implement genuine collective bargaining mechanisms describing the National Joint Negotiating Council (NJNC) as a consultation platform where the state imposes wage decisions unilaterally.

It said teachers would march to the Ministry of Finance to demand a salary review aligned with the real cost of living.