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What's Being Done On . . . Promoting Labor Rights ?
ZimbabweBackground to Labor Rights in Zimbabwe:Trade Unionists and many labor rights activist NGOs in Zimbabwe are finding that the condition of labor is deteriorating. In 1992, President Robert Mugabe enacted the Labor Relations Amendment Act (LRAA), which created worker committees that unionists saw as diluting union authority. On the other hand, the LRAA did give workers the right to collectively bargain and to organize. Striking was permitted in non-essential services. In 2002, the Public Security and Organizations Act (PSOA) was enacted, a law that made it easy for the government to arrest workers. The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and other international groups have documented dozens of worker arrests and harassment incidents that have occurred since the law was established. Wellington Chibebe, Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), (whom we interviewed below) was arrested under this law in August of 2004. Even though the Zimbabwe High Court has forbidden the government from spying on the ZCTU, police often show up at meetings and agents try to infiltrate the labor movement. Zimbabwe's Labor Court functions as a separate court to hear worker grievance cases. Workers can hire special paralegals for this court system instead of costly lawyers. However, there is a huge backlog of cases in this court system and some workers have been waiting years for trials concerning their grievances. On November 16, 2004, the World Movement Secretariat conducted an interview with Wellington Chibebe, Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU). We would like to thank Mr. Chibebe for taking time to participate in this interview. An edited text version of the interview follows below, along with live audio links. The President of the ZCTU, Lovemore Matombo, is a World Movement for Democracy participant. The ZCTU: Audio Link The ZCTU exists to represent the interests of the working people and their families in Zimbabwe. In essence, we are there for the social and political interests of Zimbabweans. On The Beginnings of the ZCTU: The government, because of its background, resolved that there should be at least one labor center and the workers should speak with one voice, which was how the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions was formed. The ZCTU began with an amalgamation of six labor centers, which were there prior to independence in 1981. So it was an effort to bring together workers and to ensure they can speak with one voice. In 1981, the inaugural congress selected the leadership of the ZCTU. On Labor Rights and Democracy: Audio Link Throughout the world, trade unions rights are human rights. Where there is no democracy there are no human rights. Therefore, the first port-of-call in terms of our trust is to establish a democratic state so that workers are operating within a democratized society, where they are free to express themselves and free to organize themselves, as enshrined in Conventions 87 (freedom of association) and 98 (the right to organize and collectively bargain) of the International Labor Organization, the ILO. Popularizing a Rallying Call: Audio Link Given our political dispensation, the moment we talk of, or divulge, our strategies in minute detail we will have lost the game. However, for the benefit of those who want to know, our existence is based in the workers' resolve to be together. For that, we popularized the slogan, "an injury to one is an injury to all," as our rallying call. The Visibility of the ZCTU: Audio Link Those who are interested in seeing what we are doing are free to see. The idea of being underground may be misconstrued to mean that we are talking of covert strategies. No- when we are saying that we are employing different strategies, the strategies are for the survival of the center. But we ensure that visibility is one of the strategies. The final details on how to ensure visibility is for us to implement, otherwise you know how we are operating. We have a rival government-sponsored trade union movement, and there are government secret agents who want to discover how we manage to survive. Carefully Collaborating with Civil Society: Audio Link We are in collaboration with civil society groups of like mind, in that we mean progressive civil society organizations. Because in Zimbabwe there is a mix of civil society movements, some of which are government sponsored, some of which are individual organizations, nongovernmental individuals, who also want to be recognized as civil society organizations. Normally we want to associate ourselves with constituency-based civil society organizations because it ensures accountability. We work with youth groups and student movements; we have programs for civic education. We also have relations with, and are affiliates of, the National Constitutional Assembly, Zimright (a Zimbabwe human rights organization), the Zimbabwe Election Support Network, and the Crisis Coalition in Zimbabwe. If I may say so, quite a good number of civic organizations. The Evolution of Labor Rights in Zimbabwe: Audio Link For a very long period, we have faced a difficult situation. I can say from early independence up to 1992 the situation was OK. From 1992, simply because the government had embraced the IMF-driven economic strategy investment program, we began to develop cracks in the relationship with the IMF and there was a fallout between ourselves and the government. And in 1992, the government, in answer to that and in order to convince or impress the World Bank, amended the labor laws to be more adverse. But we have been fighting until the day when the laws will be a bit more favorable to the labor movement. Arising from our struggle along with the International Labor Organization to this day, we are glad to say that 80 percent of our demands have been incorporated into our labor law. The labor laws appear to be beautiful in text, 80 percent beautiful. But in practice, it's the total opposite; more so, when you consider Public Order and Security Act which are used to counter labor laws. You cannot consider the labor laws in isolation of other pieces of legislation, which run against the grain of the labor laws or parallel to the labor laws. Convention 87 of ILO expresses freedom of association and therefore the right to assembly. Convention 98 talks about the size required to organize and collectively bargain. But you have a law, Public Ordinance 58, which states that no four people can meet without police clearance. It takes you back: How do you organize a trade union? The trade union is all about numbers. Now, if you are not allowed to congregate without police clearance, how do you organize? Are you allowed to operate freely? The answer is no. And given the political dispensation, where you are viewed or perceived to be pro-opposition, what would be the government's response to your operation? The answer is that you are treated as an extension of the opposition, and therefore the law visits you quite heavily. This is why trade unionists have been in and out of prison on numerous occasions since the law was promulgated in 2002. Empowering Women Unionists: Audio Link Women's issues are right at the top of the agenda. In 1994 we had a program specifically for women talking about equality. Prior to independence, women were treated as inferior to men. So as a union, over and above what the government was doing about women, we came up with a specific program for women trade unionists in order for them to also influence society and issues and to talk objectively and eloquently about women's issues. After the education phase, we began the integration phase. We were convinced that our women were able to stand up on their own and be bold enough to fight for their own rights, and therefore integrate themselves equally with men. And this has been achieved. And I am proud to say to this end that in our leadership in the trade union movement, it is public knowledge that we are 50 percent men, 50 percent women. And I am also proud to say that the ZCTU is the first organization in the Southern African Trade Union family to provide a female trade union president for the Southern African Trade Union Coordinating Council, Lucia Matibenga, who is now the president of SATUCC . International Collaboration: Audio Link This is not a secret, because whatever contribution, be it political, moral, or financial, what we receive is for public consumption. We submit audited accounts and explanatory statements to the government on an annual basis without fail. We get a lot of support from international trade union organizations and other sympathetic organizations. And we are here today. It is because of the symbiotic relationship between ourselves and the Solidarity Center and the AFL-CIO trade union center, who have assisted us since the '90s with exchange programs, information on trade union movements, and material, financial, and moral support. We also receive much support from other international organizations, mainly the trade union movement in Europe, in Africa, at the ILO-level in terms of technical and financial support. You can see all of this information in our annual financial statement. Paralegal Training: Audio Link One program on which we are very heavily involved with the Solidarity Center is the training of paralegals, which specifically targets trade union cadre who are either industry or full-time trade unionists. The paralegals will be trained by qualified university lecturers on labor laws, trade union and human rights, and international conventions and statements vis a vis the situation in Zimbabwe. They are trained to know their rights and to recognize how bad laws will affect their rights and how individuals can actually come up with bad laws in order to circumvent or to betray the democratic trust in any society. They are also trained on how unions or activists or society at large should respond through their own rights to the misapplication of the law, and therefore ensure democracy in any society. Contact Information: The website for the ZCTU can be found at http://www.zctu.co.zw. Wellington Chibebe can be reached at info@zctu.co.zw About "What's Being Done On . . . " For three months at a time, we highlight the activities of various organizations in different global regions, and links to important resources, that are focused on a particular theme or area of democracy work. Each new theme is announced via DemocracyNews, and the information from the previous installment is placed in the archives below. We hope to receive and post information about the work you or others may be doing that is focused on these issues. Send information via e-mail to the or by fax to (202) 378-9889. |
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