Bongani Majola
Africa has the most restrictive laws relating to trade unionism, according to this year’s online survey by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU). While South Africa and Ghana have arguably First World labour relations, the overall picture for the African continent is increasingly grim.
Africa has the third-highest rate of trade union rights violation, following the Americas and Asia. The survey covers about 150 countries and reports a total of 210 deaths or assassinations of trade unionists. Of that total, Colombia has the highest number (153), twice as many as last year, of trade unionists “killed or disappeared in the line of duty”.
Other violations include blatant state rejection of trade union activity; for example, a provincial governor who says bluntly: ” I will not tolerate any trade unions in my province”, and a sign in the Moroccan town of Sal that reads “no trade unions”. The survey further finds that “some employers don’t hesitate to train senior officials in union-busting techniques”.
The restructuring of parastatals and privatisation, notes the survey, have had particularly devastating repercussions for trade unions on the African continent. “At a political level, many African governments still regard their trade-union movements with hostility and suspicion.” Specific mention is made of Zimbabwe, where farm workers are targeted by the regime’s henchmen.
In Ethiopia, a president of a teachers’ union, Taye Weldesmiate, remains in prison serving “a 15-year sentence on trumped-up charges of conspiracy to overthrow the state”. And in Swaziland the government continues to rule by decree, subjecting “union leaders to 24-hour surveillance”.
The 2001 survey concludes: “ICFTU believes these figures are only the tip of an iceberg. The visible part of the iceberg has grown in size, and the volume of the immersed part must have increased in proportion.”