Day 3 of 12 days of action for Pre-October 2018 salaries: They are feeling the heat.
Anyone who was unfortunate enough to listen to the misguided rumblings of one Taungana Ndoro on Studio 7 on Tuesday 16 November 2021 will agree with us that those in power are now feeling the heat.
The “Spokesperson” of Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, MoPSE who is making a name for himself for speaking loudly with his mind shut sought to mock ARTUZ and the broader teaching fraternity by;
- Claiming that ARTUZ and ZINATU have a combined membership of less than 400. Ndoro and all state deployees are well aware that regardless of all the state engineered shenanigans to destroy ARTUZ it remains the fastest growing Union in Zimbabwe. The Union of choice for the majority of teachers. The Union which keeps state spies on their toes. The numbers speak for themselves, the Ministry is well aware of the thousands of teachers who have withdrawn labour. In another breadth We are aware that this is also part of a broader intelligence scheme of fishing facts from our responses. We don’t fall into such traps.
- Assuming that we were just the 5 of us would our case become illegitimate because of our numbers? We salute ZINATU for calling Taungana Ndoro to order.
- Insinuating that the majority of teachers care less about their own welfare and are ready to work for no pay.
- Ndoro views teachers as a bunch of imbeciles with very little appreciation of labour rights. The man doesn’t realise that we are only demanding a living wage because we are patriots we could have been demanding a fair wage which afford us to have savings.
All the reckless talk by the motor mouth Ndoro was made in haste after the man had received instructions from Shake Shake house. Shake Shake is shaking and had to deploy the malcontent to do some public relations work unfortunately the deployee did more damage than good.
We thank thousands of individual teachers who are joining the action and the Union on a daily basis. We further salute Unions who are warming up to the idea of a united job action. As ARTUZ we stand ready to support any action called for by any Union as long as it is in the best interest of the teaching profession. We had to move in alone because our members could not stomach the suffering for long and other Unions were still to decide.
Teachers should now realise that a Union is not the leadership, the membership is the Union . The members should now take the lead and guide the struggle for a living wage.
ARTUZ continues to mobilize online and on the ground. Today hundreds are meeting in Chipinge and more mass meetings are being organized nationwide. The Union is marching towards total closure of all schools.
The launch of the Education Voices Radio has given teachers a platform to vent their frustrations and share ideas. The radio is helping in shaping public opinion on the salary crisis. The teachers are supporting us.
The Union continues to receive solidarity messages from the security sector. Mthuli Ncube must pay our soldiers, our police officers, our war veterans, our correctional officers “prison guards” , members of the Central Intelligence Organization and the broader civil service. The civil service makes government tick.
The bonus carrot has been rejected by teachers and the struggle is gaining momentum.
It is our hope that government attends to;
- Restoration of October 2018 salaries
- Invigilation contracts
Within the next 12 days so that examinations are not jeorpadised.
Day 3 was a big success, we are buoyed by the boldness of the teachers and feel more determined as we march into Day 4!
Source: ARTUZ
