Politics dominated the elections of the new executive of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions in 2001 while purely labour issues were pushed to the backburner.
This was the view of the regional representative of the American Centre for International Labour Solidarity in Harare Gebre Gebremariam after the congress which saw pro-Movement for Democratic Change candidates sweep all the top posts in the labour movement.
He said traditional labour issues and other economic matters such as death and pension benefits, the status of the aids levy, retrenchments, privatisation of parastatals and even the increase of union dues to maintain the solvency of the ZCTU were only discussed in a cursory manner.
The congress was seen as a clear fight between MDC’s Morgan Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe and the results were viewed as a defeat for Mugabe.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 01HARARE862, ZIMBABWE’S AFL-CIO SOLIDARITY CENTER HEAD
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
280958Z Feb 01
CONFIDENTIAL PTQ9778
PAGE 01 HARARE 00862 01 OF 02 281850Z
ACTION DRL-02
INFO LOG-00 AF-00 AID-00 CIAE-00 DODE-00 SRPP-00 EB-00
EUR-00 H-01 TEDE-00 INR-00 IO-00 LAB-01 L-00
NSAE-00 NSCE-00 OIC-02 PM-00 PRS-00 P-00 SP-00
SS-00 STR-00 TRSE-00 USIE-00 PMB-00 PRM-01 G-00
SAS-00 /007W
——————CBB75C 281850Z /45
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 8305
INFO NSC WASHDC
DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
AMEMBASSY NAIROBI
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 000862
SIPDIS
DRL/IL FOR KBRYANT
NSC FOR JFRAZERNSCE-$,,^
ILAB FOR RSHEPHARD
LONDON FOR CGURNEY
PARIS FOR BWILLIAMS
NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER
PASS USAID FOR AFR/SD – DWELLER, AFR/SA – CPALMA,
NNEWMAN, AA/AFR – VDICKSON-HORTON
E.O. 12958: DECL 02/28/11
SUBJECT: ZIMBABWE’S AFL-CIO SOLIDARITY CENTER HEAD
CLAIMS ZCTU CONGRESS WAS A VICTORY FOR THE MDC
REFS: A. HARARE 859, B. HARARE 846
CLASSIFIED BY CHARGE D’ AFFAIRES EARL M. IRVING FOR
REASONS 1.5 D.
¶1. (C) ON FEBRUARY 27, LABOFF MET WITH GEBRE
GEBREMARIAM, THE AMCIT REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE
AFL-CIO FUNDED AMERICAN CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL LABOR
SOLIDARITY IN HARARE, TO DISCUSS THE JUST-ENDED ZIMBABWE
CONGRESS OF TRADE UNIONS’ (ZCTU) FIVE-YEAR CONGRESS.
GEBREMARIAM INDICATED THAT THE ELECTION RESULTS AT THE
CONGRESS HAD PRODUCED A COMPLETE VICTORY BY THE MOVEMENT
FOR DEMOCRATIC CHANGE (MDC) IN MAINTAINING CONTROL OF
THE LABOR FEDERATION. HE SAID THAT THE POLITICS
SURROUNDING THE ZCTU EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE ELECTIONS
DOMINATED THE CONGRESS, AND THAT TRADITIONAL LABOR
ISSUES WERE CLEARLY SECONDARY. ACCORDING TO
GEBREMARIAM, IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT THE MDC COMMANDED
OVERWHELMING SUPPORT AMONG THE UNION DELEGATES WHO
ATTENDED THE CONGRESS. IN HIS OPINION, AT LEAST 95
PERCENT OF THE DELEGATES WERE VOCAL MDC SUPPORTERS, AND
THIS FIGURE IS REPRESENTATIVE OF MDC SUPPORT BY UNION
MEMBERS AT THE GRASSROOTS LEVELS. HE EXPLAINED THAT
THIS SUPPORT IS NOT OPEN-ENDED AND WILL REQUIRE MDC
SUPPORT OF PRO-WORKER POLICIES, HOWEVER, ITS FIRM
FOUNDATION IS THE WIDESPREAD SENSE OF BETRAYAL AND
DISENCHANTMENT SHARED BY THE VAST MAJORITY OF UNION
MEMBERS TOWARDS PRESIDENT MUGABE AND ZANU-PF.
CONFIDENTIAL
PAGE 03 HARARE 00862 01 OF 02 281850Z
¶2. (C) THE WIDESPREAD SUPPORT FOR THE MDC WAS REFLECTED
IN THE VOTING FOR THE TOP SLOT. THE PRO-MDC CANDIDATE
WILLARD CHIBHEBHE RECEIVED 81 VOTES, ANOTHER PRO-MDC
CANDIDATE GOT 36 VOTES, WHILE THE PRO-ZANU-PF CANDIDATE
ISIDORE ZINDOGA (WHO HAD BEEN ACTING SECRETARY GENERAL
FOR THE PAST 18 MONTHS) GARNERED JUST 35 VOTES.
GEBREMARIAM BELIEVES THAT ZINDOGA RECEIVED THESE VOTES
BECAUSE OF HIS SOLID CREDENTIALS AS A UNION ORGANIZER
AND NOT BECAUSE OF HIS PRO-ZANU-PF VIEWS, WHICH HE
PLAYED DOWN. THE PRO-RULING PARTY CANDIDATE FOR
PRESIDENT OF THE ZCTU, SHANGWA CHIFAMBA, WHO DID NOT
DISTANCE HIMSELF FROM THE PARTY, RECEIVED ONLY A DISMAL
SEVEN VOTES OUT OF THE 152 CAST. THE SUPPORT FOR THE
MDC WAS ALSO SHOWN BY THE ENTHUSIASTIC WELCOME THAT MDC
PRESIDENT MORGAN TSVANGIRAI AND MDC VICE-PRESIDENT
GIBSON SIBANDA, BOTH FORMER UNION LEADERS, RECEIVED WHEN
THEY ADDRESSED THE CONGRESS.
¶3. (U) TRADITIONAL LABOR ISSUES AND OTHER ECONOMIC
MATTERS WERE RAISED AND DISCUSSED AT THE CONGRESS,
ACCORDING TO GEBREMARIAM, BUT IN ONLY A CURSORY MANNER.
THESE INCLUDED:
= THE LEVEL OF DEATH, PENSION AND OTHER BENEFITS
RECEIVED BY WORKERS FROM THE QUASI-GOVERNMENTAL
NATIONAL SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION (NSSA)
= THE STATUS OF FUNDS RAISED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF
ZIMBABWE (GOZ) THROUGH THE AIDS LEVY TAX THAT IS PAID
BY BOTH EMPLOYERS AND WORKERS
CONFIDENTIAL
PAGE 04 HARARE 00862 01 OF 02 281850Z
= RESTRUCTURING THE UNIONS IN ZIMBABWE TO CREATE FEWER,
LARGER AND MORE POWERFUL UNIONS
= THE PROBLEM OF RETRENCHMENT (LAYING OFF) OF WORKERS IN
THE CURRENT ECONOMIC CRISIS
= THE ISSUE OF PRIVATIZATION OF PARASTATAL ENTERPRISES
AND THE EFFECT ON WORKERS
= CREATING A SEPARATE ECONOMIC DEPARTMENT WITHIN THE
ZCTU (OR AN AUTONOMOUS RESEARCH CENTER) TO PROVIDE
INFORMATION ON THE ECONOMY
= INCREASING UNION DUES IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN THE
FEDERATION’S FINANCIAL SOLVENCY
¶4. (C) COMMENT: IT IS CLEAR THAT THE OUTCOME OF THE ZCTU
CONGRESS WAS A DEFEAT FOR PRESIDENT MUGABE AND ZANU-PF
IN THEIR ATTEMPT TO GAIN CONTROL OF ONE OF THE MOST
POWERFUL FORCES IN ZIMBABWEAN CIVIL SOCIETY. THE ZCTU
AND ITS MEMBER UNIONS PROVIDE A READ
(25 VIEWS)
