NO REASON TO COMMEMORATE MAY DAY - WORKERS

BULAWAYO- With the economy still in tatters and with no aid from the west despite the formation of a coalition government by long time rivals Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai, many workers and employers see no reason of commemorating Workers Day. Writes Simba Nembaware

May 1st, International Workers' Day, commemorates the historic struggle and achievements of working people throughout the world, and is recognized in almost every country. For the Zimbabwean worker there is no need to celebrate as there are no achievements that go along with it and also because the country's situation degrades workers from all sectors of the economy.

Gone are the days when white collar jobs were favourable and were every parent's dream for their child. Strikes by teachers, doctors and nurses, prosecutors and other civil servants in key ministries are the norm in this once prosperous nation. A monthly salary of US$100 is a slap in face for a Zimbabwean worker taking into consideration that Zimbabweans have a culture of hard working.

Poor renumeration, high inflation, the high cost of living, the collapse of health care and education system and poor service delivery in general has prompted an exodus of both professional and skilled labour to neighbouring South Africa and Botswana.

This May Day is overshadowed by Zimbabwe's teachers who on Wednesday vowed to go on strike when the new school term begins next week after government reneged on a pledge to increase their salaries.

"There has not been any concrete response to address the issue of teachers' salaries," Tendai Chikowore, president of the Zimbabwe Teachers' Association told AFP.

"We issued an ultimatum to the minister to say if the issues of remuneration of teachers are not addressed before schools open, teachers will not report for work."

Teachers in state schools earn 100 US dollars a month, which they say is too little.

The strike by teachers is just a tip of an iceberg as many will workers will soon follow suit after realising that the interim government has failed to provide for them. Teachers and nurses returned to work early this year following the formation of a unity government. They were promised to be competitively paid but that promise did not see the light of day.