ILO Mission to Zimbabwe

Abstract

KHUMBULANI NDLOVU is Information Officer with the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions in Hararea ILO Mission to Zimbabwe InAugust 2009 an ILO Commission of Inquirycompleted a two-week fact-findingmission to Zimbabwe The completed Governing mission ILO Commission to Body Zimbabwe its two-week in2008 approved in August successfully fact-finding by 2009. the ILO Governing Body in2008successfully completed its two-week fact-finding mission toZimbabwe in August 2009. The Commission wasinthe country toprobe violations ofFreedom of Association andthe Right toCollective Bargaining inZimbabwe. This followed reports made by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) on infringements of these rights since the year 2002.More than 90trade union activists and leaders gave evidence tothe Commission on how their rights were flouted. Despite the ratification ofConvention 87and98 by Zimbabwe, the domestication of the principles hasnot yet been fully implemented. The Constitution ofZimbabwe hasa provision that deals with the protection ofFreedom of Association and Assembly, which provision is compatible with Convention 87.However, the government ofZimbabwe continuously accused the ZCTU anditsmembers ofengaging In politics when there wasa strike orprotest action. Such protests were usually violently broken upby armed police. Protests organised by the ZCTU were merely onsocio-economic issues affecting workers, for example, issues of high taxation. All ZCTU organised protests were anexpression of the freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution ofZimbabwe. The government ofZimbabwe usedextensively the notorious Public Order andSecurity Act (POSA) tostifle workers' rights. Trade union activities were banned orrestricted using this Act despite a clause clearly stating that the Act doesnot apply to"aregistered trade union for bona fide trade union purposes for the conduct ofbusiness inaccordance with the Labour Relations Act." ZCTU leadership and activists including President Lovemore Matombo and Secretary General Wellington Chibebe gave oral submissions on how they were tortured on13September 2006, together with 13other activists. They were picked upbefore leading a peaceful procession todeliver a petition tothe Minister ofLabour demanding that government address various issues affecting the country, including the issue ofhigh taxation andlow wages. They were brutally assaulted atthe notorious and condemned Matapi Police Station and denied accesstomedication, food andlegal counsel. Tothis day some of the victims still bear the scars asthey were left permanently disabled. TheILO Commission waspresented with evidence inthe form ofdoctors' reports, police letters refusing the ZCTU permission to commemorate various events orhold workshops andalsovideo footage ofpolice assaulting trade union activists. The ZANU PFgovernment that existed before the coming into being of the Global Political Agreement viewed the labour movement asan enemy. This stems from the fact that the ZCTU facilitated the formation of the then opposition Movement for Democratic Change in1999.In the early 1980safter Zimbabwe hadgained independence, the relationship that existed between government andlabour was paternalistic. This wastochange when the ZANU PFgovernment tried tointroduce a oneparty state system inthe late1980s. Inthe early 1990s the government alsoembarked on the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme that sawthousands ofworkers losing their jobs. At this stage, the relationship between government andlabour had irretrievably broken down. Asearly asthis the labour movement started mooting the idea of forming analternative tothe ZANU PFregime. When finally the MDC wasformed, ZANU PF sawthis asthe greatest betrayal by labour. This sawanescalation ofhuman and trade union rights violations since 2000.Itisimportant to note that after its formation, the MDC was immediately weaned from the ZCTU hence the operations ofthe two have remained independent ofeachother. However, when the government launched its offensive, ittargeted both opposition andtrade union activists. Subsequent attacks onlabour were aneffort to try andweaken the MDC asZANU PFbelieved that since the MDC haditsroots Inthe labour movement anonslaught onlabour would weaken it. Since the year 2002the ZCTU hasbeen reporting casesofgross human and trade union rights violations tothe ILO andZimbabwe hasbeen slapped with the Special Paragraph. This effectively classifies itasa pariah state. TheILO Commission hasjust concluded its mission toZimbabwe andisyet totable its findings, but whatever the outcome - workers ofZimbabwe hada chance tolet the world know of their untold suffering atthe hands of the ZANU PFregime ledby President Robert Mugabe. ...