Tourism workers’ 5% pay rise: demand grows after Thermage says go higher
A 5% wage hike for tourism workers raises basic pay and allowances, but unions and workers say it falls short of earlier demands as negotiations return next year.
Tourism workers have secured a five percent salary increase, but the deal hasn’t cooled tensions—especially among those pushing for larger gains.
The latest adjustment raises the lowest-paid monthly basic salary to $128, with housing and transport allowances each increased by $3—from $47 to $50 for housing and $37 to $40 for transport.. The change applies to the period March 2018 to February 2019, when the next round of negotiations is expected to begin.
According to the schedule for the National Employment for the Tourism Industry, the increment was agreed last Wednesday.. Workers say they accepted the compromise mainly to avoid dragging negotiations further into the kind of process that can lead to compulsory arbitration.. For many, that practical concern—moving forward rather than risking a drawn-out fight—helped make the five percent deal feel like the lesser of two pressures.
The industry’s pay structure is organized into three sectors.. Sector 1 covers core tourism activities such as bungee jumping, cruises, animal rides, rafting and related services.. Sector 1B deals with hunting, while Sector 2 focuses on conservation.. Sector 2 is identified as the lowest-paid group, with lower Grade 1 set to receive $128 per month and the highest grades rising to $293.
Under the new terms, earnings in Sector 2 improve across the board, with the lowest grade moving from $211 to $222 per month.. Sector 1 also sees an increase: the lowest-paid grade now earns $273 up from $259, while the top grade increases to $438 from $417.. In Sector 1B, the top grade is set to reach $286, up from $272, while the lowest-paid group also moves upward, though still described by workers as being far from enough.
Workers have said the five percent rise doesn’t match the scale of the original request.. Many had wanted a 20 percent increase across the board, arguing that wages are already too low.. “We had wanted a 20 percent increment considering that the wages are already low.. The industry is doing well and the employer has no excuse not to pay,” one employee said, reflecting a frustration that the compromise amount still leaves basic livelihoods under strain.
Union leadership frames the agreement differently, describing it as a negotiated step rather than a final outcome.. Kirion Mhazo, who said he negotiated on behalf of the five unions under the Zimbabwe Tourism and Allied Workers Union, characterized the deal as a compromise position.. He said salary negotiations were completed and the five percent increase was reached alongside uniform increases to housing and transport allowances.
Mhazo also pointed to the employer’s argument that the sector is not performing equally and that some operators in other destinations may struggle to meet wage rises.. The union side, he said, accepted the proposal in order to “move forward” rather than remain stuck in bargaining.. That reasoning matters because it shows how workers are balancing two competing realities: the need for higher pay now, and the fear that pushing too hard could trigger disruptions that would affect employment stability.
Beyond the numbers, the dispute also points to a deeper issue that has drawn criticism at various times: the way tourism employment can leave workers vulnerable.. Workers say many are not on medical and pension benefits, partly because they are placed on short contracts.. In day-to-day terms, that arrangement can make a small wage increase feel less meaningful—because workers worry about health coverage and income continuity, not only monthly pay.
There is also a trust gap between what workers perceive as the industry’s earning capacity and what employers describe as uneven returns.. Workers believe the tourism sector is making money from tourists paying for activities and services, while the employer’s position has been that returns are shadowed by poor performance by operators in places where tourism is low.. Misryoum readers will recognize the mismatch that often follows in these negotiations: when earnings seem visible to customers, workers expect a direct share—yet employers can argue their margins are squeezed by operational differences.
As the current agreement runs until February 2019, the next question is whether the five percent deal becomes a floor for future adjustments or a temporary stopgap.. With workers already signaling they want more, and with the sector’s pay structure varying by activity type, Misryoum expects the upcoming negotiations to focus not just on percentages, but on who carries the risk—employers who say performance is inconsistent, or workers who say they are already carrying the cost of low wages and limited protections.