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The Zimbabwe Nurses Association (ZINA) has urged all nurses across the country not to report for duty until their grievances are met.
This comes few weeks after several nurses downed tools in protest over government’s failure to address their problems in public clinics and hospitals.
Part of the association’s statement reads, “Having discussed this with the association’s executive, we hereby call upon every nurse in Zimbabwe, from those working at a rural clinic in the most remote parts of the country all the way up to those working at the central hospitals to immediately do the following:
For those who have not been going to work, continue withholding your labour. To those who have been subsidising our employer by going to work, mostly because you may have an alternative source of income, we call upon you to reconsider this and withdraw your labour as well.”
A Harare Hospital nurse only identified as Naty confirmed to this publication that they are not reporting for work, “I am not going to work, we are actually protecting you because we are fearing that if we fall sick then that means you automatically fall sick because of lack of protective clothing it then means we are all at risk of dying.”
“We are God fearing people but nothing came in our accounts nothing was deposited therefore we are in agreement with staying at home. You can imagine we only received RTGS$3000. They tell you media what they want so they look good and we look stupid so let them go and work for their good salaries.”
Another nurse who also spoke to TechMag Tv on condition of anonymity said,”…its tough getting a salary that will not even buy a simple basic commodity grocery. Imagine how those that rent are living? what of bus fares?”
An ambulance paramedic said, “For the past 17years I worked in this field we have been underpaid and even now, we risk getting infected by COVID 19 and still there is no allowance my salary is an average of USD$30 a month which cannot pay my bills.”
However, nurses in mission hospitals, notably Karanda Hospital have ignored the association’s directive.
“When other nurses strike like this we do not strike but we suffer in such a way that people then opt to come to our mission hospitals and this increases pressure on us,” one nurse told this publication.
The source could not however comment on their salaries.
A fortnight ago, government offered all civil servants a 50% increment plus USD$75 allowance in the face COVID-19.
Yesterday, civil servants and government met to deliberate on the salary issue. They alleged to have agreed to an increment which will see the least paid civil servant earning RTGS$8000
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