Teachers’ and bank workers’ responses to Zimbabwe's crisis: uneven effects, different strategies

Abstract

Abstract While other studies have examined worker experiences in the informal sector during the crisis, this study is the first to focus on the formal sector, comparing the experiences of teachers and banking sector workers. The study shows that the Zimbabwean crisis (2000–2008) had uneven effects which elicited differential responses from workers. During the peak of the crisis in 2008, the teaching sector almost collapsed as most of the primary and secondary school teachers responded to hyper-inflation that had eroded their incomes by joining the diaspora or Zimbabwe's burgeoning speculative informal economy. The establishment of the Government of National Unity (GNU) saw the dollarisation of the Zimbabwean economy and the shelving of the Zimbabwean dollar in April 2009. These changes saw the teaching sector showing signs of revival, as some of the teachers who had left the profession re-joined the sector. This was largely because the dollarisation of the Zimbabwean economy 'killed off' the speculative activities that were sustaining a large proportion of the teachers in the informal economy during the crisis. In stark contrast, the banking sector thrived during the peak of the crisis, as most banks became key players in highly speculative activities such as Zimbabwe's bullish stock exchange and real estate. The profits realised in the banking sector trickled down to its workers who became the best remunerated amongst all the sectors in Zimbabwe. In a twist of irony, the banking sector was adversely affected by the dollarisation of the economy, as the speculative activities that were reaping huge rewards for the banks were wiped out overnight by the adoption of currencies more stable than the precarious Zimbabwean dollar. This spelt disaster for the banking fraternity. Most banks in the first few months of dollarisation struggled to pay their workers in hard currency; many were forced to downsize their operations and lay-off some employees. Keywords: disintegrationdollarisationhyper-inflationinformal economyrevival Notes 1. Bloch (Citation2009) defines dollarisation as the substitution of a domestic currency by a more stable foreign currency. Bloch further adds that it does not necessarily imply that only one foreign currency is introduced or adopted: currencies such as the US dollar, the South African Rand, the British Pound Sterling and the Botswana Pula are all accepted as legal tender in Zimbabwe. 2. Please note that all names used in this paper are pseudonyms in order to protect the informants' identities. 3. Kukiya-kiya has also been referred to colloquially as kujingirisa by people taking part in informal sector activities. 4. The Riddell Commission was a Presidential Commission that was set up in 1981 in Zimbabwe to make enquiries and recommendations on incomes, prices and conditions of work of employees. 5. There was a wave of strikes between 1995 and 2000 in Zimbabwe, in both the private and public sectors. The biggest strikes were by the civil servants in 1996 and 1997. 6. Teachers in private schools were being paid more money by the affluent parents who could afford to send their children to private schools. In some cases, these teachers were being paid in hard currency while teachers in the public schools were being given worthless Zimbabwean dollars. 7. Interview with Ben Chatuka on 4 October 2008. 8. Interview with Memory Chipunza on 6 August 2008. 9. Interview with Tracey Chamboko on 6 August 2008. 10. Interview with Edith Madombwe on 3 October 2008. 11. Interview with Sam Dhana on 10 August 2008. 12. Interview with Elizabeth Mpariwa on 26 April 2009. 13. Interview with Paula Porusingazi on 8 December 2008. 14. Interview with Miriam Sithole on 11 November 2008.