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U.S. labor protests Mugabe attacks on workers in Zimbabwe
Jim Fisher-Thompson, Washington File
September 18, 2006

http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-

Washington -- More than 50 trade unionists marched outside the Zimbabwean Embassy in Washington September 18 to protest recent attacks against members of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) by the government of President Robert Mugabe.

The Americans were protesting the September 14 action by Zimbabwean security forces, who broke up a peaceful demonstration by 250 ZCTU members demanding openness in government and better wages. A number of senior labor officials were beaten severely and arrested after they protested economic mismanagement by Mugabe that has led to a staggering 1,000 percent inflation rate and joblessness of more than 50 percent.

Chanting, "Stop the beatings, stop the torture," and "ZCTU, American workers support you," members of AFL-CIO, a major U.S. labor organization, marched in front of the Zimbabwean Embassy carrying placards that read "Promote workers' rights worldwide" and "Mugabe: Free unionists."

Barbara Shailor, an AFL-CIO program officer, said: "It is very important that we come here today because this is the day Mugabe is coming to New York to attend the annual meeting of the U.N. General Assembly. And we need to tell the embassy that we will not stand for the violation of trade union rights in Zimbabwe."

As a result of the September 14 attacks, Shailor said, ZCTU General Secretary Wellington Chibebe has "severe cuts to his head, three broken bones and severe bruises." ZCTU President Lovemore Matombo, has "a broken arm," and First Vice President Lucia Matibenga has "scratch marks all over her back. Her neck is swollen and her eardrums were damaged." All three also were taken into custody.

"What these people have gone through must not go unnoticed as Mugabe moves about the streets of New York," Shailor said.

David Claxton, an officer with the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU), read out a number of demands for Mugabe, including investigation of the September 14 attacks, medical care for all those injured, protection of the right of labor to organize and "active government engagement with the ZCTU to resolve the economic crisis" in Zimbabwe.

Tony Baker, another CBTU member, told the crowd: "Almost 20 years ago, CBTU led a demonstration to the South African Embassy" protesting apartheid. "There is nothing different about South Africa then and Zimbabwe now. The only difference was that [South Africa] was a white regime oppressing black workers and this [Zimbabwe] is a black regime oppressing black workers."

David Dorn, director of international programs for the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), said, "We are here because this suppression of labor in Zimbabwe has just gone on far too long.

"Our organization has been working with the teachers' union in Zimbabwe for a number of years now, actually with help from the State Department. But the problem is people are suffering so much it's hard to sustain an education program in a country where people are scrabbling just to get by from day to day."

The United States has condemned the attacks. "The U.S. government condemns the Mugabe government's suppression of planned marches by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions. Over 100 individuals were arrested, including senior union leaders, and some were severely beaten as part of the effort to prevent the marches from taking place," U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said September 15.

"The government's actions against those wishing to protest on behalf of greater democracy, better wages and access to treatment for AIDS sufferers is another example of its denial of the basic rights of its citizens. We call for the immediate release of those detained and access to medical treatment for those who were injured," he said.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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