DOCTORS have rejected a 60% increment in allowances offered by government following a bipartite meeting in Harare, Friday.
The Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA), represented by its negotiating forum, Health Apex Council, turned down the doctors’ employer’s second offer this year to review their on-call allowances.
The health workers embarked on a job action a month ago and are pressing on with their strike, leaving public hospitals with no medical personnel to attend to patients.
In an interview with NewZimbabwe.com, ZHDA spokesperson, Dean Ndoro said the junior doctors want their salaries reviewed according to the prevailing interbank rate.
“Following the last bipartite meeting, Treasury has decided to review our on call allowances and other health specific allowance with a 60% increment,” Ndoro said.
Ndoro added that they would continue with the industrial action as they were not yet in a position to report to work because of the poor salaries they are being awarded.
“ZHDA did not accept the offer and we are still incapacitated. We want our allowances to be reviewed at the current interbank exchange,” said Ndoro.
Senior doctors earlier this week declared incapacitation joining their junior colleagues’ industrial action.
Government had earlier on threatened to withdraw the doctors salaries but the health workers were not moved by this.
