Zimbabwe’s health-care workers have been barred from embarking on lengthy labor strikes as the government seeks to clamp down on regular work stoppages.
(Bloomberg) — Zimbabwe’s health-care workers have been barred from embarking on lengthy labor strikes as the government seeks to clamp down on regular work stoppages.
The Health Service Amendment Act published in a government gazette classifies the industry, including doctors and nurses, as an “essential service.”
This bars them from participating in strikes for an uninterrupted period of three days or for more than three days in any given two-week period. Health workers’ union leaders who incite or organize industrial action could face imprisonment of six months or a fine.
Government health-care workers in the southern African nation have regularly gone on strike demanding to be paid in US dollars because of a weakening local currency and runaway inflation, and to protest poor working conditions. In 2020, a four-month stoppage came to an end after telecommunications billionaire Strive Masiyiwa offered to pay them a subsidy for the next six months.
Over 4,000 health workers since 2021 are estimated to have left the country for work abroad, according to the Health Services Board, which runs the affairs of the health workers.
A representative for nurses association didn’t immediately respond to two calls to his mobile phone seeking comment.
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