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Unions blast ZCTU
The Herald
March 05, 2005

http://www.zimbabweherald.com/index.php?id=41285&pubdate=2005-03-05

Read the ZCTU response to this article

HALF the unions affiliated to the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions have blasted the umbrella labour body for engaging in politics at the expense of workers’ welfare.

At least 17 of the 34 affiliate unions have also accused the ZCTU secretariat of dictatorship and corruption.

The affiliates have questioned the ZCTU secretariat’s "unilateral decisions" like inviting the Congress of South African Trade Unions without making wide consultations.

They are also questioning the status of ZCTU president Mr Lovemore Matombo in the union after he was fired from TelOne.

They are also questioning why Mrs Lucia Matibenga, unemployed since 2000, is still president of the Commercial Workers’ Union of Zimbabwe.

In a statement, 17 out of the 34 affiliate unions that form the ZCTU, accused the secretariat of pursuing a political agenda at the expense of the welfare of workers.

The affiliates called on the secretariat to urgently address "bread-and-butter" issues, such as a higher minimum wage of $1,8 million in line with the poverty datum line.

The unions said genuine labour concerns were being hijacked by unemployed individuals who attended hastily-arranged labour forums without prior consultation or input from ZCTU affiliate unions.

"This only shows lack of consensus building in decision-making processes within the ZCTU," said the unions in their statement.

The 17 affiliates said they had learnt with surprise and dismay that the ZCTU secretariat had invited a Cosatu delegation to Zimbabwe on a so-called "fact finding mission".

"It is interesting to note the top brass of Cosatu had the audacity to come to Zimbabwe trying to champion the rights of the Zimbabwean workers.

"We are appalled by the stance taken by Cosatu when we know quite well the same Cosatu campaigned against the quota system of the Zimbabwean exports," said the affiliate unions.

Cosatu’s visit, said the unions, had nothing to do with labour issues and was purely a political mission according to their letter to the Government.

On October 10 last year, Cosatu wrote to the Government of Zimbabwe stating the purpose of their visit as a political fact-finding mission during which they wanted to meet President Mugabe, the MDC leadership, the Zimbabwe Council of Churches and human rights lawyers.

"There is nowhere the delegation wanted to meet the workers and that makes their mission suspicious," said the deputy secretary-general of the Construction Workers’ Union, Mr Nicholas Mazarura, in an interview.

A 20-member Cosatu delegation last month defied the Government directive that they formalise their entry into Zimbabwe and tried to bulldoze their way but were denied entry at the Harare International Airport.

Last October, a 13-member Cosatu delegation was deported after it sneaked into the country as ordinary visitors without proper clearance.

After the deportation, the Cosatu members threatened to blockade the Beitbridge border post as part of efforts to taint the image of the country.

"That (proposed) blockade of Beitbridge is a mockery of other ZCTU affiliates and the workers both Cosatu and the ZCTU seek to protect," said Mr Farai Makanda of the Transport and General Workers’ Union.

Such a blockade would hurt workers in the Transport and General Workers’ Union and also those in the Textile Workers’ Union whose very livelihood hinged on trade with South Africa.

It would be difficult to differentiate Cosatu from the European Union that imposed sanctions against Zimbabwe causing immense suffering on the people of Zimbabwe in general, said Mr Makanda whose union was also kept in the dark about the Cosatu visit.

"But what we are saying is that the secretariat should have consulted affiliate unions of this visit, its purpose and what bearing it has on the workers’ lives," said Mr Mazarura.

Mr Langton Mugeji of the Zimbabwe Leather, Shoe and Allied Workers’ Union, another affiliate of the ZCTU, said the secretariat held some meetings with a "clique" within ZCTU prior to general meetings to which they would come with pre-conceived ideas.

"They handpick some people from parastatals and if you oppose their pre-discussed issues they shoot you down, the issue of Cosatu has never been clear to us . . . it’s a political game and our constituencies ask us about these things and we look like fools," said Mr Mugeji.

The affiliate unions also questioned why Mr Matombo had become a full-time member of the secretariat which, they said, was not provided for in the constitution.

But in an interview Mr Matombo denied imposing his wishes on the affiliate unions saying they held regular meetings to discuss all pertinent issues.

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