Some staff at Zimbabwe government hospitals in Harare and Bulawayo have gone on strike again. Sources said supporting staff at Parirenyatwa Hospital, Harare, stopped work this week over salaries - the lowest paid earn Z$40,000 (US$2) a month.
Derek Mangoya, who represents junior residents at United Bulawayo Hospital, said junior and senior residents, nurses, and other staff walked off the job Thursday when their pay slips indicated that their salaries had been cut in half.
Harare Hospital sources said some residents received as little as Z$17,000 while others received up to Z$700,000 – still less than the settlement reached last month of a strike by residents that lasted for 10 weeks, crippling the state health system.
Hospital Doctors Association President Kudakwashe Nyamutukwa said more than 100 junior and senior residents at Parirenyatwa were not paid at all this month, prompting some to stay home.Many of those still on the job have launched a work slowdown.
Nyamutukwa told reporter Carole Gombakomba of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that conditions in government hospitals are now chaotic because there has been no explanation from the government as to why payrolls were disrupted.