Municipal strike closes hospitals

Hundreds of patients in municipal hospitals and clinics were “abandoned” on Tuesday when 10,000 municipal workers in the Zimbabwe capital, Harare, went on strike to press for salary increases, the official ‘Herald’ newspaper reported on Wednesday. It said police had to turn away patients reporting for treatment because there were no staff to assist them. It quoted the municipal workers’ committee chairman, Cosmus Bungu, as saying: “We have been negotiating for a salary raise since last year and we have resorted to strike action because the (municipal) commission has not been taking this issue seriously.” The newspaper said the strike prevented the municipality collecting its monthly rate and water service payments. It also said refuse had not been collected in some areas. “The city is facing serious financial problems and has had to suspend some capital projects because of lack of funds,” the paper said. “It also intends to reduce its wage bill to about 28 percent of its recurrent expenditure. Salaries and wages take up to 50 percent of the city’s recurrent expenditure.”