VZCZCXRO0979
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #0110/01 0420640
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 110638Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0045
INFO SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHMCSUU/EUCOM POLAD VAIHINGEN GE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0022
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 0022
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0022

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 000110 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
AF/S FOR BRIAN WALCH 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR MICHELLE GAVIN 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR L. DOBBINS AND J. HARMON 
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU 
ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS 
LABOR FOR SUDHA HALEY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB PGOV SOCI PREL PHUM ASEC ZI
SUBJECT: STRIKE IN ZIMBABWE HITS EDUCATION HARDEST 
 
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SUMMARY 
 
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¶1.  (SBU)   Some government employees, including teachers, began a 
labor action on February 5 in demand of higher wages, improved 
working conditions, and price cuts at government-controlled 
essential utilities.  The greatest impact of the strike has been 
felt in the education sector, as teacher absenteeism has resulted 
in school closures in both urban and rural areas.   Hospitals 
remain open and are functioning normally, while some government 
offices, including courts in Harare, are closed.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 
 
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The Strike's Impact on Education, Healthcare, and Government 
Offices 
 
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¶2.  (SBU)  Government workers initiated a strike on February 5 with 
about 2,000 demonstrators gathering peacefully in Harare's Unity 
Square.  Police observed but did not disrupt the event.  University 
of Zimbabwe Professor John Makumbe, who has advised the World Bank 
on efforts to audit the civil service, estimates that the 
non-security sector civil service comprises 180,000 employees, of 
which two thirds are teachers; these figures contain "ghost 
workers" who receive salaries but do not hold positions.  Makumbe 
believes that teachers have accounted for the vast majority of 
striking government workers; the strike has resulted in the closure 
of two thirds of all public schools.  (NOTE:  An Embassy employee 
who visited the town of Marondera in Mashonaland East on February 9 
confirmed that all six of the town's schools were closed, and 
school closures within Harare are widespread.  END NOTE.) 
 
 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  A joint statement produced by the Zimbabwe Teachers 
Association (ZIMTA), the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe 
(PTUZ), and the Public Service Association (PSA), urged the 
inclusive government to convene an urgent meeting with APEX, the 
primary negotiating body for civil servants, in an effort to end 
the strike.  The statement followed a series of negotiations that 
broke down on February 2 after civil service unions rejected a 
US$16 per month wage increase.  The two sides appear miles apart, 
as the Herald reported that the unions were demanding approximately 
US$500 on February 5.  That figure was a reduction from a previous 
request of about US$600.  PTUZ Secretary General Raymond Majongwe 
told us his union would accept US$300 per month.  Currently, the 
lowest paid civil servants earn US$150 per month. 
 
 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  ZIMTA's CEO, Sifiso Ndlovu, told us on February 9 that 
at least 50 percent of the union's 44,000 members were currently on 
strike, and he estimated in the urban areas of Harare, Bulawayo, 
Bindura, and Chinhoyi, that the number exceeded 70 percent.  PTUZ 
reported that their 16,000 members were also striking and estimated 
90 percent participation.  (COMMENT:  While participation is high, 
both these estimates are likely exaggerated figures.   Anecdotal 
reports indicate that many teachers that receive substantial salary 
supplements from parents are not participating.  These teachers are 
predominantly located in more affluent urban neighborhoods.  END 
COMMENT.)  PTUZ Programs Communications and Information Officer 
Oswald Madziwa said that his organization joined the strike knowing 
 
HARARE 00000110  002 OF 002 
 
 
full well it would not result in meaningful pay raises because the 
GOZ does not have the resources.  Rather, their motivation was to 
highlight key issues and press for action over the failure to raise 
funds from the Chiadzwa diamond fields and the high rates charged 
by electric, phone, and water utilities.  He said his organization 
believed ZANU-PF was fanning the flames of the strike, via its 
control of the state media, to further its arguments that sanctions 
have undermined the economy. 
 
 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  While some press reports are claiming that junior 
medical staff are on strike, Zimbabwe Medical Association (ZIMA) 
Secretary General Dr. Tapuwanashe Bwakura told us that the Harare 
public hospitals (Parirenyatwa, Harare, and Chitungwiza General), 
were fully functioning.  We also spoke to Dr. Mbongeni Ndlovu, a 
Consultant Physician and Head of Medicine at Bulawayo's Mpilo 
Hospitals, who said that the two main hospitals in Bulawayo (Mpilo 
and United Bulawayo) were also running normally.  Ndlovu believed 
that the prevailing sentiment in Bulawayo was that the strike would 
not lead to increased salaries as people understood that the GOZ 
did not have the funds to grant meaningful pay raises.  One nurse 
with whom we spoke at Harare Hospital said that the nurses were not 
striking, nor had their union requested them to do so. 
 
 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  Some government offices were closed  on February 10, 
including the Central Registry in the Ministry of Home Affairs, the 
public service ministry, the education ministry, as well as local 
administrative offices in Bulawayo and Gweru.  The Supreme Court, 
High Court, and the Harare Magistrates Court were also closed.  The 
court closures have delayed numerous politically sensitive hearings 
including the High Court trial of MDC-T Treasurer Roy Bennett and a 
bail hearing of three MDC councilors in Banket  who were arrested 
two weeks ago on charges of killing a ZANU-PF councilor. (NOTE: 
Certain classes of government workers, including the police, are 
categorized as "essential services" under Zimbabwe's labor laws, 
which makes it substantially harder for them to engage in labor 
actions.  END NOTE.) 
 
 
 
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COMMENT 
 
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¶7.  (SBU)  At this point, the strike's impact has largely been 
limited to the education sector.  Educational workers are 
particularly vulnerable as they have not received additional salary 
support from donor groups.  Some healthcare workers, including 
certain classes of doctors and nurses, have benefitted from donor 
sponsored "top-up" payments, which appear to have lessened their 
need to participate.  It is likely that ZANU-PF will try to spin 
the strike as evidence of the inability of the MDC, which heads the 
finance and education ministries, to deliver.  END COMMENT. 
RAY