Zimbabwe's teachers' unions are challenging the Government's new salary structure, arguing that the use of the same US dollar component across some grades has weakened the financial reward for promotion, experience and additional responsibilities.

The latest criticism has come from the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ), which says the current application of the Paterson grading system has created what it describes as “grade injustice” among teachers.

ARTUZ secretary-general Robson Chere has previously demanded a minimum teacher salary of US$1,260, saying the figure is based on the union's assessment of teachers' living costs. The union's National Executive Council also reaffirmed the US$1,260 minimum salary demand in July.

In its latest position, ARTUZ argues that the problem is not only the size of teachers' salaries but also the relationship between grades.

According to the union, an ordinary teacher at C3 and a deputy head at C4 are currently receiving the same reported package of ZiG7,000 plus US$320, despite the deputy head carrying additional managerial responsibilities.

A head at D1, meanwhile, is reported by ARTUZ to receive ZiG14,000 plus US$320.

ARTUZ secretary-general Munyaradzi Masiyiwa said the structure effectively weakens the financial incentive attached to promotion.

“C3 = C4 is an insult to teachers!” Masiyiwa said.

He argued that promotion should result in a meaningful financial improvement rather than simply adding responsibilities.

“The system is telling us that promotion means more work, more stress and greater responsibility, but without meaningful monetary recognition,” Masiyiwa said.

ARTUZ wants the Government to introduce a salary structure in which a C3 entry-level teacher receives a US$1,260 basic salary paid entirely in United States dollars, followed by defined pay differentials between grades.

The union is proposing salary increases of between 10 and 15 percent between successive grades, alongside annual increments reflecting length of service.

It also wants additional payments for responsibilities undertaken outside ordinary classroom teaching.

“HODs, Senior Teachers, TICs, Sports Masters, ECD Teachers, Exam Class Teachers, Boarding Masters and ZIMSEC Examiners must be compensated for the extra responsibilities they carry,” Masiyiwa said.

The dispute comes after the Government introduced a revised remuneration structure for civil servants following a job evaluation exercise.

The Government's position has been that the exercise was intended to align remuneration with skills, qualifications and responsibilities across the public service.

Public-sector workers retained a US$320 hard-currency component, with the remainder of their remuneration payable in ZiG under the new structure.

The compression of the US dollar component has already attracted criticism from other teachers' representatives.

In April, the Educators' Union of Zimbabwe described the uniform US$320 component across grades as “clear wage compression”, arguing that the salary structure did not adequately reflect differences between grades.

EUZ also argued that the new grading system undermined career progression and failed to adequately recognise qualifications and experience.

The issue is particularly significant because the Paterson grading system is intended to differentiate jobs according to their relative value and level of responsibility.

Historical public-sector remuneration frameworks have similarly used progressively higher Paterson subgrades, with C3 below C4 and D1 above the C grades.

The current dispute is therefore less about whether teachers should be graded and more about whether the financial differences between grades are large enough to make those distinctions meaningful.

ARTUZ says a teacher with several decades of experience should not remain financially indistinguishable from a newly appointed teacher simply because both fall within the same broad salary structure.

The union is also demanding that experience be reflected through increments at five, 10, 15 and 20 years, arguing that continuous service and professional development should produce measurable salary progression.

The demands come against broader concerns over teacher welfare. ARTUZ told the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission in June that teachers' salaries remained below what it considers necessary to meet basic household needs, citing its 2026 Teacher Basket of Needs estimate of US$1,260.

The union linked the issue to the wider sustainability of the teaching profession, arguing that inadequate remuneration can push public servants towards additional income-generating activities.

The Government now faces pressure from teachers' representatives to address not only the overall level of remuneration but also the structure of the salary scale.

For ARTUZ, the central issue is that career progression should produce a corresponding financial benefit.

“Promotion, experience and continuous learning must result in positive salary and grade progression for teachers,” Masiyiwa said.

The union is calling on the Government to review what it describes as the partial application of the Paterson system and establish clearer financial separation between grades and levels of responsibility.