Zimbabwe grinding to a halt

from IWPR:

Striking workers demand pay in dollars and rands as local currency effectively worthless.

By Jabu Shoko in Harare (ZCR No. 177, 23-Jan-09)

Private- and public-sector strikes are adding to Zimbabwe’s woes as pressure mounts for workers to be paid in foreign currency in the wake of the dollarisation of the country’s economy.

With the Zimbabwe dollar continuing to lose value every day due to hyperinflation and the general mismanagement of the economy by President Robert Mugabe and his subordinates, labour unions are putting pressure on the cash-strapped government and on weary private-sector employers to pay their workforce in US dollars or South African rands, the two currencies that have replaced the worthless local currency and are widely used, even in remote areas.

For the past three weeks, workers at government parastatal the National Railways of Zimbabwe, NRZ, have refused to work, protesting over low pay and poor working conditions, joining thousands of employees in the private sector who have not bothered to report for duty in the new year.

On January 21 the country’s postal service, ZimPost, ground to a halt as workers went on strike, demanding that they be remunerated in US dollars or rands.

Not to be outdone, employees of the Zimbabwe National Water Authority, the country’s sole supplier of water, which has been blamed for the erratic supply of clean water, stopped working on January 22 and in Harare and Bulawayo local-government employees have withdrawn their labour, effectively crippling service delivery in the country’s capital and second-largest city.

Other government departments and parastatals are reportedly on go-slow strikes, while the nation’s teachers as well as doctors employed in public service have vowed not to return to their posts until government accedes to their demand to be paid in foreign currency.....

Abductions continue

The propaganda campaign that began last week to instil fear in Zimbabwe’s workers continued on Wednesday as the job stay-away organised by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) went into its second and final day. State controlled media reports warned people to go to work and patrols in many areas maintained a fearful atmosphere.

The daily abductions of opposition officials and supporters continued with the kidnapping of Raymond Majongwe, the secretary general of the Progressive Teachers Union (PTUZ). Witnesses said he was abducted at gunpoint on Tuesday by suspected CIO agents in Milton Park, Harare. It turns out Majongwe is also a member of the ZCTU general council and the PTUZ is an affiliate of the national labour body.
Our contacts on the ground said some more shops and businesses that were closed Tuesday opened on Wednesday after tight security was deployed in the industrial areas. They said many people who went back to work on this second day did so out of fear of losing their jobs in a country where unemployment is above 80%. The few who were brave enough stayed home. In solidarity with the ZCTU, protesters demonstrated in Johannesburg and Pretoria in South Africa and at the Zimbabwe Embassy in London.

In South Africa solidarity with the ZCTU stay-away continued with a second day of protests organised by the Congress of South Africa Trade Unions (Cosatu). One was in Johannesburg at the Zimbabwean Consulate and the other in Pretoria at the High Commission. There were no top union leaders at either venue as it was on Tuesday when COSATU’s general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi addressed the crowds. Craven said Vavi spoke out about the appalling economic situation in Zimbabwe and the attacks on opposition leaders. He also handed a memorandum about these issues to the Zimbabwe Embassy. Craven said the memo was accepted by a junior officer who angered the crowd with his dismissive attitude.

The ZCTU stay-away was also supported across the oceans in the U.K. where the Trade Union Council (TUC) and Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA) held a protest demonstration at the Zimbabwe Embassy in London. Alois Mbawara and his colleagues from the FreeZim pressure group were there in solidarity with the workers back home. Mbawara said although about 50-60 people turned up, the event was a success because it was a weekday at lunch time when no-one would normally be there. Protesters held placards with clear messages, including “Power to the working classes” and “Poverty Datum Line for Zim working class”.

Analysts have said businesses are the key to the success of mass action stay-aways. Employers should assure their workers that they would not lose their jobs and should support protests. In the end companies can only benefit if a democratic society can be created and the econo

SAfrican unions vow to press Mbeki about Mugabe

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA — The country's largest labor federation, which has lambasted Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe for "attacks on democracy and human rights," says it will keep up pressure on Zimbabwe, in contrast to the quiet diplomacy advocated by the South African president.

President Thabo Mbeki, leader of the African National Congress, said Saturday that he was confident new mediation could help resolve the political crisis in Zimbabwe, on South Africa's northern border.

But after meeting with Mbeki in Cape Town, the general secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions said it would go ahead with demonstrations set for this week.

"We are proceeding with the protests. We are not going to let go because there is a promise of dialogue," said Zwelinzima Vavi, whose group is a member of the ruling alliance with the ANC.

"We're having demonstrations on Tuesday and Wednesday, we're having marches in Johannesburg and we'll be marching to the Zimbabwean high commissioner's office."
.....

Vavi said the labor federation's responsibility was to make sure the unions exerted pressure to force the parties involved to engage in serious negotiations for a solution to the crisis. He said the group hoped for a breakthrough.