Zimbabwe government doctors threaten to go on strike on Tuesday

Zimbabwe’s government doctors have threatened to go on strike on Tuesday next week if the government does not pay their salaries in United States dollars.

Zimbabwe reintroduced the Zimbabwe dollar in June and made it the sole legal tender in the country.

The government has offered government workers a 60 percent salary hike but the doctors rejected the offer.

The doctors are said to have written to the government that they will down tools next Tuesday because they can no longer afford to report for duty because of inflation and continued deterioration of the country’s economy.

Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube has admitted that the country is currently suffering from a wage compression, rather than inflation, but has also pledged that the government will live within its means.

He has repeatedly said that there is no way the government will pay any salaries in United States dollars.

Doctors went on a 40-day strike in December-January demanding better salaries and adequate supplies of drugs but the government refused to budge on salaries and promised to supply drugs.

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