The Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) says teachers across the country are facing worsening living conditions with many struggling to afford transport, healthcare, housing and basic necessities despite being employed full-time.
Launching its Teachers' Basket of Needs Survey Report, the union described the findings as an indication of a deepening socio-economic crisis affecting educators in both rural and urban areas.
"The survey findings exposed the deepening socio-economic crisis confronting Zimbabwean educators and confirmed that teachers are surviving under unbearable conditions," ARTUZ said in a statement.
According to the report, teachers are grappling with low wages, mounting debt and rising costs of living with many reportedly turning to side jobs such as farming, poultry production, informal trading and extra lessons to supplement their income.
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Obert Masaraure, president of ARTUZ said the findings reflected what he called "an unfiltered reflection of a broken, anti-worker system".
"The report we present today - the Teachers' Basket of Needs Survey - is an unfiltered reflection of a broken, anti-worker system that exploits educators, demanding high productivity in exchange for meagre wages," Masaraure said.
"This survey shows that teachers' living conditions have deteriorated beyond the limits of human tolerance."
The union said energy costs were taking a significant share of teachers' incomes, with some educators spending between 10% and 30% of their salaries on electricity and other energy needs.
Others, particularly in rural communities, reportedly continue to rely on firewood because of limited access to affordable electricity and clean energy alternatives.
Transport was also identified as a major challenge, especially for teachers in remote areas who often walk long distances due to poor road infrastructure and inadequate transport support.
Healthcare access has similarly deteriorated, according to the survey, with more than 70% of respondents describing services as "poor" or "very poor".
"Medical costs, consultation fees and transport expenses continue to block access to quality healthcare," ARTUZ said.
Masaraure said the report showed teachers' salaries were no longer aligned with the cost of living, arguing that many educators were earning below the country's Total Consumption Poverty Line.
"This is not just about low pay; it is a systemic attack on teachers' health, the nutritional needs of their families, their children's education and the overall wellbeing of the teaching community," he said.
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The survey further found that nearly 80% of teachers were trapped in debt through bank loans, salary-based credit facilities, microfinance institutions and informal lenders, with low salaries cited as the primary cause of indebtedness.
Masaraure said the economic pressure had forced many teachers into what the union termed a "Triple Burden" - balancing classroom responsibilities with income-generating activities to survive.
"The state should be ashamed that an educator, a keeper of knowledge, must work in dangerous conditions on weekends just to afford basic necessities," he said, referring to reports that some teachers had turned to informal work, including artisanal mining.
Following the report's launch, ARTUZ announced "Operation Dignity", a national campaign aimed at pressing for improved wages and working conditions for civil servants.
The union said the campaign would push for what it described as a living wage indexed to the cost of living, better healthcare, improved housing, subsidised transport and welfare support for teachers.
ARTUZ also reaffirmed collective survival measures, including a controversial proposal for a two-day working week and resistance to what it described as expensive colonial-era dress codes.
"We will work only for what we are paid," Masaraure said.
"If the government refuses to provide a living wage, we will change the terms of engagement because workers owe their employers nothing when they are paid so poorly."
The union said the Teachers' Basket of Needs Survey Report would form part of future negotiations and collective bargaining efforts aimed at improving teachers' welfare and restoring professional dignity.
