Zimbabwe civil servants go on strike over wages

HARARE - Zimbabwe’s civil servants are on strike after the government refused to meet their salary demands.

The strike is another major challenge for the country’s unity government, which was formed last year.

Tendai Chikowore, chairperson of the Public Service Association, said Friday that employees will not to return to work until the government agrees to pay a minimum salary of $630.

The coalition government had announced a 10 percent pay increase starting in April for the country’s 230,000 employees that raises their earnings up to an average of about $170 a month.

Labour groups quickly rejected the offer.

Public Service Association president John Tagara says most government workers went on strike in Harare on Friday following a rally in the Harare Gardens that brought thousands of public workers together.

Tagara says a large number of civil servants have joined the strike in most parts of the country, paralysing most government institutions.

He adds evidence so far from the workings of the unity government show that the government has money but is choosing to use it elsewhere, including taking huge entourages to foreign trips by both the Prime Minister and the President of the country.

The civil servants argue the government has been taking them for granted for a long time now, adding the availability in the country of resources such as diamonds and other precious stones, which are being misused to benefit a few, should lesses the country's burdens.

In the latest negotiations, Chikowore said government leaders on Thursday offered a basic salary of $236, which the union has turned down. - AP/Own Correspondent