COVID 19: Zimbabwe doctors serve strike notice, demand pay in US dollars

Senior doctors at Zimbabwe’s state hospitals issued a two-week strike notice demanding salaries be paid in US dollars and for supplies of personal protective equipment against the coronavirus.

“Our salaries as paid in the Zimbabwe dollar cannot sustain us anymore,” the Zimbabwe Senior Hospital Doctors Association said in a letter to the Ministry of Health. “The Zimbabwe dollar is so volatile and subject to inflationary pressures that make it unpredictable.”

The specialist doctors want renumeration benchmarked to 2018 salaries that were in US dollars and the matter resolved before July 29, according to the statement.

Telephone calls to acting Health Minister Amon Murwira seeking comment went unanswered. The southern African country has confirmed 1,089 coronavirus infections and 20 deaths.

-Bloomberg