Zimbabwe
Zim stayaway gains momentum

afrol News, 22 April - Massive momentum is building up for the three-day national strike starting tomorrow in Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwean trade union ZCTU, which organises the stayaway, is getting support from national opposition groups and from the international unionist movement. Zimbabweans are however unsure whether they dare participate.

Mass action is turning into reality in Zimbabwe. Officially, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) is protesting against a radical fuel price increase. In practical terms, the trade union and angry Zimbabweans will mark their opposition to President Robert Mugabe's increasingly oppressive regime by keeping businesses closed on 23-25 April.

According to the trade unionists, the government's actions demonstrate its inability to manage the national economy properly, with working people and the poorest amongst the most severely affected. "With the country facing raging inflation and the economy in disarray after more than 20 years of rule by Mugabe regime, adopting such policies will only make the situation worse and increase the already heavy burden on the people of Zimbabwe."

Lovemore Matombo, the president of ZCTU, maintains workers had "demanded" the trade union take action against the price hike that will make workers pay around their entire salary in transport costs.

An average Zimbabwean worker earns less than Z$ 25,000 (euro 28) per month while domestic workers earn around Z$ 10,000 a month (euro 11). With petrol prices increased by some 300 percent, most bus and taxi companies have at least doubled their fares. Thus, employees living at more than a working distance from their work can now expect to pay between Z$ 10,000 and 40,000 a month only in transport costs.

Mr Matombo told 'The Standard', one of Zimbabwe's last independent newspapers, "Workers have demanded immediate action. It is very clear that most workers can no longer go to work because they can't afford the transport costs. As a result, we will call for the workers to simply stay at home and wait for the next move." He added ZCTU was "still doing enough mobilisation as we drum up the support of workers from across the political divide. We have no doubt that this one will succeed."

As the organisers of the stayaway, the ZCTU President said he was aware the state machinery would "obviously seeks to fail such mass action. We are not even worried about being arrested or tortured," he added, two days ago.

Today, Mr Matomo's predictions were met. A number of ZCTU officials have been arrested by the Zimbabwean police. The arrested officials included the ZCTU Central Region Chairperson, who was arrested on this morning and later released for allegedly distributing flyers urging workers to go for the stayaway.

Further, all officials of the ZCTU western Region which is based in Bulawayo were also picked up by the police today in the morning for allegedly distributing flyers which is a crime according to the Public Order and Security Act. Some were later released but the fate of most of them is still unknown at the moment.

The ZCTU today stated it would like to urge the international community to condemn this brutal action by the police and urge the government to recognise and respect human and trade union rights.

International support has been swift and firm. The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) has given its full support to the ZCTU strike and has protested the arrest of Zimbabwean trade unionists. The ICFTU said it would "closely monitor the government's response to the strike, given its appalling track record of repression of trade union rights, including through detention and torture of trade unionists."

Also South Africa's main trade union, COSATU, has stated its support for its Zimbabwean colleagues. COSATU, which has strong links to South Africa's ruling ANC party, has stepped up its critique against the ANC for its failure to react against the repression of the Zimbabwean regime.

Within Zimbabwe, the strike or stayaway has also achieved the support of all oppositional forces. Zimbabwe's main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), stated the stayaway was "completely justified and deserves the support of every progressive Zimbabwean."

Paul Themba Nyathi, the MDC Secretary for Information and Publicity, said there was no doubt that price hike on fuel was the result of bad governance. "There can be no doubt that Mugabe's heart is not with the people," he said. "There is all the evidence that Mugabe's heart is only with his obsession with personal political power. For political power Mugabe will stop at nothing even if that means squeezing the little income you worked so hard to get or even starving you to your death."

- In demanding the reversal of the fuel prices the workers and those in the progressive democratic movement must also demand the restoration of legitimacy, Mr Nyathi added. To the MDC, this fuel crisis was "only a symptom of a deeper crisis of governance, which is now compounded with the crisis of legitimacy."

Also the underground movement Zvakwana ('Enough is enough') firmly supported the ZCTU-organised stayaway, congratulating the trade unionists for their brave action. Zvakwana, who draws much of is membership from the working class, asked the employers "to show support for this call to action by closing their doors." The movement added: "We are in this together."

Even the intimidated remains of a free press saw the stayaway as a last opportunity to protest against the Mugabe regime. "In God's name, Go!" the 'Standard told President Mugabe in an editorial piece. Zimbabwe had "reached the bottom of economic and social despair" and people were "finding it impossible to live," the weekly writes. "The fundamentals of life no longer exist," it adds, asking "If you say you are governing - governing what? Assassinate this country no further, Mr President. You have done enough."

The Mugabe government, on the other hand, has taken a clear stance against the stayaway. A police spokesman was quoted by the State-controlled ZBC as warning that the proposed stayaway would be illegal.

Zimbabwe's hated Information Minister Jonathan Moyo on the other hand took a more diplomatic approach to the upcoming stayaway, promising to review workers' wages in light of the fuel price hike. "We must endure the pain designed to make our living better," Mr Moyo was quoted by 'The Herald', a government mouth-piece. No one believes these comments can halt the planned stayaway, however.

 

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