Going Against the Grain of International Labour Law Standards: Criminalisation of Strike Action Within the Healthcare Sector in Zimbabwe (Health Service Amendment Act, 2022)

Abstract

An outside observer of Zimbabwe’s record on employee rights may be given enough reason to doubt its commitment to fundamental human rights and international law. While Zimbabwe is a member of several international organisations including the International Labour Organization, it has continued to breach several international laws, especially regarding labour.1 The Labour Act of Zimbabwe2 provides for the right to collective job action, which in other jurisdictions is referred to as either collective action or industrial action. Despite the provision for collective job action, which comprises the right to strike, employees have been constantly threatened against striking by the government through the use of the state apparatus, including the deployment of police and national armed forces to quell strike action.3 In its most recent effort to further erode employment rights, on 4 January 2023, the Health Service Amendment Act4 was signed into law by the president of Zimbabwe.5 The Act seeks to amend the Health Service Act (HSA)6 and provide for ancillary matters thereto. The amendment among other things, provides the designation of health services as an essential service and drastically limits workers’ right to strike. Some provisions of the Act go against the grain of international labour law and may fail the constitutional muster, let alone the global best practice test. The law, which has been labelled draconian by some commentators,7 raises pertinent labour and human rights concerns and may need to be revised.