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International Worker's Day 2010 solidarity statement
Youth Forum
April 29, 2010

The Youth Forum joins hands with the rest of the global village in commemorating International Worker's Day 2010. This year's commemorations are held under the theme 'Working together to create jobs and fight poverty.' The International Worker's Day is commemorated every year on May 1 to find the means of alleviating the plight of the worker while at the same time facing his labour demands.

The Zimbabwean worker has been deprived of a standardized and decent living in a nation with power struggles and he remains down trodden. In this case, the Zimbabwean worker, in particular the civil servant is enduring dire economic hardships for over the last decade. The coming in of the inclusive government had given a ray of hope for a new dispensation in the lives of the majority of Zimbabweans. Zimbabweans of all walks of life are in desperate need for an economic recovery to their nation but it is to no avail as the nation continues to experience hiccups in the inclusive government thereby having negative repercussions on the worker, inducing poverty as each day progresses.

Looking at our neighbouring South Africa the civil servant is enjoying a lucrative salary package than their Zimbabwean counterpart who is taking home an insulting paltry salary of US$150. This amount can not afford one to pay bills, school fees, and food and rent, what it can only do is to increasingly distress the breadwinner as he budgets it. In most homes it's now a luxury to have two meals per day and it's a pity that civil servants continue to face such an ordeal at the expense of an irresponsible government which does not want to give an ear to the plight of its people.

The celebrations come at a time when the government has enacted the Indigenization and Economic Empowerment Act so as to empower the black people of Zimbabwe. As the Youth Forum, we feel such a piece of legislation should focus much more on empowering the worker through provision of a shareholding scheme in addition to other packages meant for improving his welfare on and off the workplace. We also believe that this act is not going to open floodgates for another looting spree by the political elite as we continue to see on a daily basis.

We also take this opportunity to send a very clear message to the government of Zimbabwe and the finance minister in particular, Hon. Tendai Biti that the recent indefinite freezing of the civil servants' salaries is a diabolic move in a society that is marred with gluttonous salary discrepancies. For instance this move remains evil for as long as the nation does not know how much a minister is getting every month, the move remains evil when the minister has no power to freeze rentals, school fees, food prices among other things, the move is satanic when the government cannot regulate the pricing of such essential services like health, water and electricity tariffs.

We feel more effort should be channeled towards increasing the capacity of the nation to fully utilize its resource base for the betterment of all. What is happening at Chiadzwa?

Youth Forum salutes the civil servant and urges him to continue to soldier on in this strife and tribulations as Zimbabweans wait patiently for the writing of the new constitution that is highly famed to climax the end of the suffering of Zimbabweans.

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