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PP RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #0156/01 0591443
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 281443Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1165
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 1485
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 1341
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 1489
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0175
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0750
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 1115
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 1544
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 3941
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1312
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 1968
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC//DHO-7//
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1706
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK//DOOC/ECMO/CC/DAO/DOB/DOI//
RUEPGBA/CDR USEUCOM INTEL VAIHINGEN GE//ECJ23-CH/ECJ5M//

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 000156 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
AF/S FOR S. HILL 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR B. PITTMAN 
USAID FOR M. COPSON AND E. LOKEN 
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU 
ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM ELAB PGOV PREL ZI
SUBJECT: TEACHERS SCORE "VICTORY", CALL OFF STRIKES 
 
REF: HARARE 00082 
 
------- 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (U) On February 23 both the Zimbabwe Teachers' Association 
(ZIMTA) and the Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe 
(PTUZ) called off strikes that had crippled numerous schools 
throughout the country.  Teachers returned to work after the 
Civil Service Association Apex Council, which represents all 
civil servants including teachers, accepted the government's 
offer of Z$528,000 (about US$72.00) as a minimum wage for 
teachers.  The increased salaries, which are still below the 
poverty datum line (PDL), are not pegged to the country,s 
soaring inflation. 
 
¶2. (U) ZIMTA and PTUZ leaders were disappointed with the 
final agreement but feared the government was ready to follow 
through on threats to fire striking teachers.  In a broader 
context, the end of the strikes only temporarily alleviates 
the government's fear that the labor unrest could spread to 
other civil servant sectors and cause serious problems for 
the struggling regime.  Moreover, by giving in to the 
teachers' demands, the GOZ has set a precedent for further 
wage increases to the rest of the civil service which will 
only fuel more (hyper) inflation.  End Summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
Teachers Try To Leverage Spreading Labor Unrest 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶3. (U) Teachers began the year hoping to take advantage of 
momentum started with a spate of recent strikes across the 
public sector, including actions by workers at the public 
electric company, by junior doctors and nurses at public 
hospitals, and by lecturers and students at public 
universities.  Separately, ZIMTA and PTUZ leadership were 
seeking to force the government to significantly increase 
teachers' salaries and benefits. 
 
¶4. (U) The PTUZ labor action began on January 31 when the 
group's activist secretary general, Raymond Majongwe, called 
for a "go-slow" by its 17,000 members (reftel).  The PTUZ 
action showed signs of success as teachers at a number of 
schools throughout the country came to work, but refused to 
teach.  At the time, ZIMTA, commonly seen as the more 
"government-friendly" of the two unions, opted to continue 
negotiating rather than join the strike. 
 
¶5. (U) After weeks of futile negotiations, however, the ZIMTA 
leadership called for its 55,000 members to go out on strike 
on February 20.  Peter Mabande, chief executive officer for 
ZIMTA, told poloff on February 21 that ZIMTA hoped to exert 
leverage on the GOZ through the government,s fear that the 
ZIMTA strike could spark wider labor unrest in other civil 
service sectors.  (Note: ZIMTA President Tendai Chikowore 
also currently serves as the Chairperson of the Civil Servant 
Association Apex Council, which represents all 180,000 civil 
servants, including teachers.  End Note.) 
 
¶6. (U) As the Apex Council leadership negotiated with the 
Public Services Commission, the PTUZ and ZIMTA strikes 
succeeded in shutting down numerous schools throughout the 
country, especially in the high-density suburbs of the 
 
HARARE 00000156  002 OF 002 
 
 
capital city Harare and the second city Bulawayo. 
Additionally, there were growing rumors that other civil 
servants were ready to join the strike. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
Final Agreement Falls Short Of Teachers' Demands 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶7. (U) The teachers' key demand was for the government to 
"link" salaries to the poverty datum line (PDL), the minimum 
monthly amount required to meet basic needs for an average 
family of five currently set by the government at Z$566,400 
(about US$77.00).  This would allow teachers' salaries to be 
increased automatically on a periodic basis to keep pace with 
inflation.  (Note: For over a year government and business 
have successfully ignored demands from the broader labor 
movement to link wages to the PDL.  End Note.)  In the end, 
the teachers accepted a total sub-PDL minimum pay package of 
Z$528,000 per month (about US$72.00), which was not indexed 
to the country's soaring inflation. 
 
------------------- 
A Strategic Retreat 
------------------- 
 
¶8. (U) Mabande told us the government negotiators claimed 
that its final offer included the full amount of salary 
increments for teachers the government had set aside for the 
entire year; there was nothing more and, absent a deal, the 
government,s next step was to arrest ZIMTA and PTUZ 
leadership for calling illegal strikes and to fire striking 
teachers.  Mabande thought that accepting the offer was in 
teachers, best interest. 
 
¶9. (U) Majongwe, on the other hand, believed that the strike 
and risk it could spread across all civil service sectors 
posed a significant threat to the government.  He maintained 
to us that the Apex Council had "sold-out" by accepting a bad 
deal.  Nevertheless, PTUZ, as the smaller union, and without 
the support of ZIMTA, was forced into a &strategic 
retreat.8 
 
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Comment 
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¶10. (SBU) There were no winners in this settlement.  With the 
threat of being arrested, beaten and fired, teachers opted to 
save their job, and accepted limited wage increases. 
However, te government bought only a temporary peace and in 
several months time, when inflation has eroded th pay 
increase, is likely to face renewed labor urest on the part 
of the teachers.  In the intervl, the government has also 
set itself up for demands from other public sector workers 
for similar ay increase, which it also can,t afford. 
Eventually the government will face the wide-spread public 
employee strikes it narrowly averted this time around.  End 
Comment. 
DELL