Mugabe in pre-election minimum wage ploy
President Robert Mugabe chose the eve of Zimbabwe's general election to increase the minimum wage for domestic servants tenfold.
A union official said the sudden increase would lead to mass unemployment and illicit child labour.
The main opposition party called it an attempt to drive a wedge between urban employers, thought to support the opposition, and their employees.
Official spokesmen have not commented on the reasons or timing behind the announcement.
Mlamleli Sibanda, spokesman for the Zimbabwe Congress of Trades Unions, described the announcement as “two steps forward, one step backward” for the country’s estimated 250,000 domestic workers, now mostly employed by black households.
He predicted that with many middle class employers already struggling to survive financially, it would lead to mass redundancies and increased illicit employment of children from rural areas.
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