Despite various reports that Zimbabwe's junior and senior residents at state hospitals around the country have gone on strike, demanding more pay and better working conditions, Amon Siveregi, a junior resident at Parirenyatwa Hospital, said residents are still reporting to work.
Siveregi, also a member of the Hospital Doctor’s Association, insisted that residents plan to stick to their plan to only go on strike at the end of the month, if the government does not address their grievances. But, the president of the Hospital Doctors Association, Kudakwashe Nyamutukwa, told Studio 7 that some residents had already stopped going to work.
Siveregi, however, said the ongoing strike by nurses and a few doctors, has led to the deterioration of conditions and services at state hospitals in Harare and Bulawayo.
Siveregi told reporter Carole Gombakomba of VOA's Studio Seven for Zimbabwe, that resident sometimes don't show up for work, not because they are striking, but because they cannot afford the high transport costs.
Reporter Carole Gombakomba also spoke with labor expert Mike Sambo, who said although the junior and senior residents deny being on strike, the situation in some hospitals indicates some form of job action by the healthcare staff.