HARARE – Lecturers at the University of Zimbabwe have declared fresh strikes to demand better pay, a week after police broke up their picket line and arrested three union leaders.
The lecturers have now obtained a High Court order barring police from interfering with their peaceful strike, and they will boycott lectures on Thursday and Friday.
In a notice to the police on Wednesday, the lecturers through their Association of University Teachers (AUT) said it would picket on April 24 and April 25 between 9AM and 2PM during which there would be no teaching at the country’s oldest university.
The lecturers say they are paid less than $250 monthly, with a ZiG component of about 5,000.
They are demanding at least $2,500 per month for a junior lecturer – the same level as what they earned before October 2018.
The lectures staged their first job boycott on April 16 but police arrived and arrested three union leaders.
A High Court judge last week ruled that AUT members have a legal right to sing, dance, wave placards, conduct prayers and have solidarity speeches.
Justice Benjamin Chikowero consented to safeguards proffered by both AUT and the police to ensure peaceful demonstrations.
These include the AUT appointing two liaison persons for engagement and consultation with the police as well as having marshals to monitor the protest.
It was also agreed that the picket would be confined to UZ’s Churchill Avenue main entrance and Mount Pleasant main entrance.
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