By News24.com

• Zimbabwean nurses began striking on Monday after receiving a meagre US$30 increase.
• They say rising fuel prices have forced many to walk to work.
• Patients have been left unattended overnight at one of the country’s largest hospitals.

Zimbabwe’s nurses embarked on a strike on Monday for better salaries, after the government raised their wages by only US$30, despite them having sought more than US$1 000.

The country’s nurses are among the lowest-paid in the SADC region, earning around US$400 per month.

Two weeks ago, Zimbabwean Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube announced a significant salary increase for all government workers, including nurses, but nurses were shocked to receive just US$30 extra in their pay packets last Friday.

The nurses say their plight has been worsened by increased fuel prices, which have skyrocketed in Zimbabwe due to the United States’ and Israel’s war on Iran.

Some said they had resorted to walking to and from work.

When News24 visited one of Zimbabwe’s largest public hospitals, Parirenyatwa Hospital in Harare, on Monday morning, throngs of striking nurses were gathered at the entrance, singing and dancing, and demanding salary increases.

“We are demanding an increase of more than 100%. We totally reject the 1 000 ZIG (US$30) which they deposited in our bank accounts last week. It’s actually an insult. We are demanding salaries of US$1 500 per month to be able to come to work and feed our families,” said Eliza Nyoni, one of the striking nurses at the hospital.

Another striking nurse, Chiedza Kariro, said: “Our situation has been worsened by the skyrocketing fuel prices. Some of us are now walking to and from work every day, but the government doesn’t care at all. As long as our salaries are not increased, we won’t come back to work.

We know there are some sell-outs among us who are close to the current Zanu-PF regime and are sneaking to work without our knowledge, while we agreed that we are on strike. We will deal with them because we are suffering and living like paupers.

Zimbabwe Nurses Association (ZINA) president Enock Dongo said the strike would continue until their grievances were resolved.

“Nurses are on strike countrywide, and we are urging everyone not to enter any hospital wards until the government increases our salaries to a level that sustains us,” he added.

John Nyana, a vehicle accident victim who had come to seek treatment at Parirenyatwa Hospital, told News24 he was stranded in pain as there were no nurses to attend to him.

“I suffered a broken arm in an accident last night, but I am not getting any help here because there are no nurses at work. I urge the government to intervene immediately because many people will lose their lives because of this nurses’ strike,” he said.

The country’s biggest trade union, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), said the government should stop making false promises to state workers, including nurses, about salary adjustments.

“The nurses who are striking against poor remuneration and deplorable working conditions have not received the promised salary adjustments. This discrepancy between public pronouncement and actual implementation reflects a troubling pattern of inconsistency and lack of sincerity in addressing workers’ grievances,” the union’s secretary-general Tirivanhu Marimo added.

“The current salaries of government workers have also been rendered useless by the recent rise in the cost of living.”