GRIFFIN SHEA, Harare
ZIMBABWE’S powerful trade unions on Saturday declared a two-day national stayaway for next week, despite warnings from government that the protest over fuel prices was illegal.
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) decided after a special meeting Saturday “to carry out a two-day mass national protest on Tuesday July 3 and Wednesday July 4,” ZCTU secretary general Wellington Chibebe told reporters.
ZCTU President Lovemore Matombo warned that the unions would consider further protests if the government failed to revoke its decision June 13 to raise fuel prices by an average of 70%.
“After the two-day protest, we will then sit down to assess the situation. We cannot say anything at the moment, but you cannot rule out further protests if the government does not address” our concerns, Matombo said.
The decision came in spite of remarks by labour minister July Moyo, published on Saturday in the state-run Herald newspaper, which said the strike was illegal.
Earlier this year, the ruling party of President Robert Mugabe pushed a law through parliament that declared strikes illegal if they were held for political, rather than economic, reasons.
The ZCTU had lobbied against the law, which was passed along with a raft of other legislation that placed new restrictions on the media and political parties.
But Chibebe dismissed Moyo’s statement, saying: “That’s the perception of government.”
“That does not address the issues of the stomach and the hardships workers are facing,” he said.
The stayaway will be the first major action taken by the ZCTU since its charismatic former leader Morgan Tsvangirai left the group to head the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
Militant government supporters since April have tried to tap into MDC’s base of support in the labour movement by launching a rival labour federation and staging violent raids on businesses.
Those raids slowed down after an outcry from the international community and after several companies were forced to close.
None of the ZCTU’s affiliate unions have switched over to the new pro-government group, headed by the fiery war veteran leader Joseph Chinotimba, who had spearheaded the company invasions.
But Chinotimba’s group has sent tensions soaring, and riot police had to break up rival supporters of the two labour groups at a May Day rally in Harare.
ZCTU leaders said they were urging workers to stay indoors at home during the stayaway, to avoid any possible violence.
“They don’t even need to go to the pubs. They don’t even need to move around. They need only to stay at home,” Matombo said.
The ZCTU had given government a two-week deadline to reverse the fuel price increases. That deadline expired Friday.
Although Zimbabwe has suffered chronic fuel shortages for the past 18 months, prices have tripled over the same period and sent fares soaring on the mini-buses used by most urban workers to commute.
Anger over the latest price hikes turned into a riot on June 18 in two of Harare’s outlying townships, which police used teargas to put down. – AFP
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