As the rest of the world celebrates International Workers' Day, Zimbabwean workers are counting their pennies as they battle skyrocketing prices for basic goods.

Workers' salaries no longer match the rising prices, as they are getting paltry remuneration. Their poor working conditions as well as the ailing economy further worsen their plight.

Speaking to Scrolla.Africa, Talent Zimbuya, a 34-year-old security guard who works for Shawks Securities, said that it's now difficult for him to take care of his small family.

"I am getting my salary in local currency and it's not increasing, while basic commodities' prices are rising almost every week," he said.

Zimbuya said that he has three kids in primary school, and with schools opening next week, he will have to pay their school fees in instalments. He has prioritised buying food.

"I get paid R3,600 ($300,000 ZWL), but with the current black market rate, I am left with nothing when I buy US dollars at R20 ($1,900 ZWL) against $1 USD," he explained.

Domestic worker Christine Moyo, 35, said she has nothing to celebrate on Workers' Day, as it's a day that reminds her of the problems in Zimbabwe.

"I get paid R1,100 ($68,000 ZWL) and I am struggling to feed my family as some prices are pegged in US dollars yet I get paid in local currency," she said.

Moyo said that she is already stressed as the reopening of schools next week means that her children might miss the first few weeks so that they are not chased away for non-payment of fees.

"I couldn't afford to send them to extra lessons during the holiday as I couldn't afford to buy forex on the black market. We are surviving on one meal a day," she added.

Japhet Moyo, secretary general of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, said that the status of workers in Zimbabwe has diminished.

"The older generation reminisces with nostalgia [for] the good old days under colonialism when wages had value and they could develop themselves and their families from their earnings -- unlike today," he said.