Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union in Zimbabwe

Yes are participating at the People’s Summit on CAB3. Join us as state our position as teachers and table our proposals for potential collaboration with other actors.

The Union President will address the Union on Sunday ahead of the sitting of Parliament to debate and vote on CAB3.

Solidarity Mission Report.

ARTUZ SOLIDARITY STATEMENT: THE PERSECUTION OF CDE PEPUKAI ZINZOMBE MUST END NOW

As part of our ongoing and unapologetic OPERATION DHIGINITI, the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ), led by Deputy Secretary-General Cde Munyaradzi Masiiwa, recently conducted a crucial solidarity visit to Cde Pepukai Zinzombe. The visit was meant to assess his welfare and directly confront the systemic, state-sponsored economic violence being unleashed against him by the employer.

Cde Zinzombe’s current predicament is a clear case of victimization for demanding a living wage and defending the dignity of the teaching profession.

On 31 March 2025, Cde Zinzombe was arbitrarily arrested following his participation in the citizen-backed Geza-organized national protests.

On 14 May 2025, after weeks of unjust detention, he was finally granted bail, deliberately timed a day after schools had already opened for the term.

On 19 May 2025, demonstrating his unwavering commitment to his students, Cde Zinzombe immediately resumed duty and worked diligently until 4 June 2025.

On 4 June 2025, in a blatant act of intimidation, the employer served him with a three-month suspension notice.

On 3 September 2025, the suspension lapsed during the school holidays. Fast forwarding to 9 September 2025, adhering strictly to labour regulations, Cde Zinzombe reported back for duty on the very first Tuesday of the new school term.

In a horrific violation of basic labour rights and human dignity, the employer unilaterally ceased Cde Zinzombe’s salary in May 2025. To this day, he remains completely removed from the payroll.

For over a year, Cde Zinzombe has been forced to survive without a single cent in remuneration. This weaponization of the payroll is a calculated tactic designed to break his spirit, starve his family, and send a chilling message to all teachers who dare stand up for their rights.

Under OPERATION DHIGINITI, ARTUZ declares that an injury to one is an injury to all. We will not remain in the comfort of our beds while the employer uses starvation as a disciplinary tool.

We demand the immediate reinstatement of Cde Pepukai Zinzombe to the payroll, the back payment of all his withheld salaries, and an unconditional end to the judicial and administrative harassment of educators.

Teachers deserve dignity, not destitution.

An injury to one is an injury to all.

Issued by :
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Solidarity Mission Report : Operation Dhiginiti and the Fight for Workplace Democracy

By Obert Masaraure for ARTUZ NEC on Africa Day.

In alignment with the core mandates of our Union, we were deployed to meet with comrades who have been unlawfully and unfairly discharged from the public service. The objective of this deployment was twofold, to understand their current socio-economic survival strategies and to extend practical, material, and institutional solidarity.

This initiative falls under “OPERATION DHIGINITI,” a comprehensive campaign launched by ARTUZ aimed at restoring the dignity of both the teacher and the teaching profession. At its foundation, the operation asserts that we cannot fight for the dignity of the classroom without fiercely defending and supporting our frontline fighters who have been unfairly dismissed for engaging in genuine, protected trade union activities.

The case of Comrade Bridget Dhliwayo stands as a heart-wrenching indictment of the employer’s brutality. Her offense was straightforward and entirely peaceful: she raised a placard demanding a living wage. This act constitutes legitimate, core trade union work explicitly protected by both domestic and international law. For this singular act of expressing economic distress, she was summarily discharged from the service.

The Union has since approached the Labour Court seeking her unconditional reinstatement. Despite the severe victimization she has endured, it was profoundly heartwarming to hear from Cde Bridget that her spirit remains unbroken. She stands ready to continue the fight for a fair wage and a better Zimbabwe. Her case is a stark reminder of the authoritarian environment workers are forced to navigate and reinforces our collective resolve to fight for genuine workplace democracy.

The dismissal of Cde Bridget represents a severe, multi-layered breach of statutory, constitutional, and international labour standards. Zimbabwe formally ratified the ILO Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), on 9 April 2003. Article 3(1) explicitly states that workers’ and employers’ organisations shall have the right to organize their activities and formulate their programmes in full freedom, while Article 11 obliges ratifying states to take all necessary and appropriate measures to ensure that workers can freely exercise the right to organize. Bridget’s dismissal directly violates these international commitments.

The state’s actions also directly contravene Section 65 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe (Amendment No. 20) Act, 2013. Section 65(1) guarantees every person the right to fair and safe labour practices and standards, as well as the right to a fair and reasonable wage. Section 65(2) guarantees the right to form and join trade unions and to participate in their lawful activities, while Section 65(3) protects the right to participate in collective job action, including the right to strike, withdraw labour, and engage in other forms of concerted action.

Furthermore, the Labour Act [Chapter 28:01], particularly Section 4, protects employees against victimization arising from trade union membership or lawful union activity, while Section 45 further outlaws anti-union discrimination. Although the state frequently relies on disciplinary procedures under the Public Service Act [Chapter 16:04] and related regulations, using such provisions to bypass constitutional protections under Section 65 remains contrary to the supreme law of the land and also leads to their non-existence. Statutory instruments cannot supersede constitutional guarantees.

Operation Dhiginiti is more than a standard labour protest but it is an ideological and material offensive driven by the reality that the Zimbabwean teacher has been structurally pauperized. The operation provides legal defense and public advocacy for members targeted through labour victimization, framing the defense of the individual as the defense of the collective union itself.

Recognizing that economic hardship has become a weapon used to silence and weaken workers, the Union is taking practical revolutionary steps toward strengthening material solidarity and economic autonomy. ARTUZ will soon launch district and provincial cooperative projects across the country aimed at creating income-generating initiatives for teachers and their families. Through collective economic empowerment, the Union seeks to build resilient community structures capable of sustaining members during periods of hardship and repression. Economic self-reliance remains central to the struggle because no worker should be left vulnerable to poverty and starvation for defending their rights and dignity.

As part of Operation Dhiginiti’s direct-action framework, the Union continues to encourage members to report for duty only two days per week. This position reflects the harsh economic realities confronting teachers. The current cost of transport, food, and basic survival has made full attendance economically impossible for many educators already trapped in poverty wages. Teachers cannot continue subsidizing a broken system at the expense of their own survival and the welfare of their families.

The struggle for workplace democracy is inseparable from the broader political environment in Zimbabwe. The introduction of Constitution Amendment Bill No. 3 (CAB3) represents a terrifying prospect for the entire working class. If passed, CAB3 seeks to further centralize authority, strip away institutional checks and balances, and erode judicial independence. If the government can currently abuse, dismiss, and victimize public sector workers while constrained by the current constitutional framework, one can only imagine the depth of repression that may emerge once executive authority becomes virtually unchecked. The fight against CAB3 is therefore not merely political, it is fundamentally a struggle for workplace survival, democratic accountability, and the protection of workers’ rights.

The assault on our comrades is an assault on every teacher in Zimbabwe. Through Operation Dhiginiti, we shall continue to match state brutality with organized, material, and legal solidarity. We call upon all members to remain resolute, support the upcoming cooperative projects, and continue defending the dignity of the teaching profession.

Injure One, Injure All! Restore the Dignity of the Teacher!

ARTUZ STATEMENT ON AFRICA DAY 2026

The Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) joins the people of Africa in commemorating Africa Day, a day that reminds us of the sacrifices made by liberation movements across the continent in pursuit of freedom, dignity, justice, and self-determination.

Africa Day must not only be a celebration of independence from colonial rule, but also a moment of reflection on the unfinished struggle for economic justice, democratic governance, quality public education, and decent livelihoods for African workers and citizens.

Today, millions of Africans continue to face poverty, unemployment, corruption, inequality, collapsing public services, and shrinking democratic space. In Zimbabwe, teachers and workers remain trapped in economic hardship while public education continues to deteriorate due to underfunding, poor salaries, and neglect of the education sector.

As ARTUZ, we believe that the true liberation of Africa cannot be achieved while teachers, workers, students, peasants, and ordinary citizens continue to suffer under systems that deny them dignity and opportunity.

This Africa Day, ARTUZ reaffirms its commitment to defending public education, labour rights, democracy, and social justice across Zimbabwe and the African continent.

In line with this commitment, ARTUZ recently launched "Operation Dhiginiti", a campaign aimed at restoring dignity to teachers and public workers through advocacy, mobilisation, collective action, and resistance against exploitation and poor working conditions. Operation Dhiginiti represents the broader struggle for a society where educators are respected, fairly remunerated, protected, and empowered to serve communities with dignity.

Africa cannot develop while its educators are impoverished. The future of the continent depends on investing in teachers, schools, and young people.

We therefore call upon African governments to invest meaningfully in public education, to respect workers’ rights and the right to collective bargaining, to protect democratic freedoms and constitutionalism and an end to corruption and misuse of public resources.

As we commemorate Africa Day, let us remember that the struggle for freedom did not end with independence and will not end there. The fight for economic justice, democratic accountability, quality education, and human dignity continues.

Africa Must Rise Through Education, Justice, and Workers’ Solidarity.

Issued by

https://newshour.co.zw/operation-dhigniti-begins-with-fight-for-persecuted-teachers/

Operation Dhigniti begins with fight for persecuted teachers - News Hour By Staff Reporter HARARE — The Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) has launched the first phase of its nationwide “Operation Dhigniti” campaign with union president Obert Masaraure meeting teachers who were dismissed, suspended or victimised for participating in what the un.....