HARARE – Lecturers at the University of Zimbabwe have announced an indefinite strike beginning Monday, March 24, 2025, after years of unresolved salary disputes with the university administration.
The collective job action, organised by the Association of University Teachers (AUT), will continue until their demands for restoration of pre-2018 salary scales are met.
“Our collective job action is moral, justifiable and legitimate! It is indefinite! We will resume our duties only when our demands are met,” reads the strongly worded statement from the AUT, highlighting the lecturers’ determination to hold their ground until substantial changes are made.
According to the AUT statement, lecturers’ salaries were drastically cut in October 2018 from $2,250 USD per month for a junior lecturer—which they describe as “regional parity” for Southern African universities—to less than $300 USD monthly plus “a pitiable local currency component which translate to less than USD200 when converted.”
This represents a devastating 87% reduction in their salaries, leaving academic staff struggling to meet basic needs such as accommodation, food, and transportation. The statement emphasises that the current salary level has made it impossible for lecturers to even afford sending their own children to the university where they teach.
“We cannot afford to pay for our own children to attend this very university we work for. We cannot afford to feed them. We cannot afford to pay for their transportation to and from this University,” the statement notes, highlighting the dire financial situation facing the teaching staff.
The AUT claims they have written more than 27 letters to university authorities since 2018 regarding salary improvements, receiving only one response. They characterise the administration’s approach as “prescriptive rather than consultative,” noting that despite “countless requests” for meetings over the past seven years, university management has only agreed to meet twice.
The lecturers also allege inequitable treatment, stating: “Even as we struggled to do the bare minimum, the university management shamelessly awarded themselves lavish packages which include expensive cars for the Executive and hefty payouts in the order of thousands of united states dollars. The university has also prioritised non-essential projects in lieu of staff welfare.”
In a message directed to students, the AUT expressed that their action is not targeted against them: “We love you! And we love our profession. This is why, from October 2018 when our salaries were slashed down from the SADC regional parity to less than $300 USD per month plus a small local currency component; we continued to come to work, sacrificing our little resources for you.”
They added that the current situation has rendered them “incapacitated” to provide quality education: “In fact we feel we are being forced to be part to a big lie. The situation is not conducive for us to provide the quality education that you deserve.”
The lecturers also claim the university has failed to meet contractual obligations including payment of funeral policies and health insurance. Additionally, they report having to use their own limited resources to support the university’s transition to “education 5.0,” including paying for data and purchasing electronic devices needed for teaching.
According to the AUT communique dated March 18, the strike action follows legal procedures with their “notice to strike” expiring on Friday, March 21, 2025. The document calls for members to meet at 9 AM on Monday in Lecture Theatre 3 to begin their collective action, urging members to prepare placards and peaceful expressions of discontent.
The communique concluded with a rallying cry in Portuguese—”ALUTA CONTINUA!!!”—meaning “the struggle continues,” a phrase associated with African liberation movements that signals the lecturers’ resolve to persist in their demands.
University administration officials were not immediately available for comment on the impending strike action.
