Five leaders of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, including PTUZ General Secretary Raymond Majongwe, are among 48 trade unionists who were caught up in a wave of arrests across the country on 3 December.
They were participating in peaceful marches to protest the financial and humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe, where hyper-inflation has reduced most people’s purchasing and earning power to virtually nothing.
The teacher trade unionists arrested are:
PTUZ General Secretary, Raymond Majongwe PTUZ National Coordinator, Oswald Madziwa PTUZ Matabeleland Coordinator, Enoch Paradzai PTUZ Midlands Coordinator, Wilbeth Muringane PTUZ Gokwe Coordinator, Moses Mhaka
PTUZ is protesting the fact that teachers have not been able to access their bank accounts. The union is also requesting that all wages be pegged to the US dollar.
The International Trade Union Confederation has strongly condemned the arrests in a letter to President Robert Mugabe.