Zim govt maintains pressure to stifle strike

HARARE – Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe’s government yesterday increased police patrols and stepped up a propaganda blitz to stifle a national strike over wages amid a devastating economic crisis.

Many companies and shops in major cities were again open yesterday, the second and last day of a strike called by labour unions, as the government continued to issue warnings that organisers were ‘looking for trouble’. Mugabe’s government says the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) called the strike as part of a plot by the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) to oust it and promised tough action against any open protests.ZCTU leaders and some independent analysts say fear crippled the boycott, but many people are nevertheless very angry over the economic crisis, which has seen inflation soar past 1 700 per cent and left most workers struggling to pay their bills and feed their families.The strike call came after Mugabe’s government launched a widely condemned crackdown on the opposition which has left some of his rivals with severe injuries, including main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.Yesterday, Zimbabwe riot police squads patrolled industrial districts and restive working class townships in the capital Harare in slightly larger numbers than on Tuesday.Reuters correspondents who drove around the city saw foot patrols, and a few other police deployments in armoured trucks but there were no reports of violence in the city and the other major towns.Workers at a brick moulding factory in Harare, who said they had observed the strike on Tuesday, said they had turned up yesterday after realising many businesses had remained open on the first day.Nampa-ReutersMugabe’s government says the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) called the strike as part of a plot by the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) to oust it and promised tough action against any open protests.ZCTU leaders and some independent analysts say fear crippled the boycott, but many people are nevertheless very angry over the economic crisis, which has seen inflation soar past 1 700 per cent and left most workers struggling to pay their bills and feed their families.The strike call came after Mugabe’s government launched a widely condemned crackdown on the opposition which has left some of his rivals with severe injuries, including main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.Yesterday, Zimbabwe riot police squads patrolled industrial districts and restive working class townships in the capital Harare in slightly larger numbers than on Tuesday.Reuters correspondents who drove around the city saw foot patrols, and a few other police deployments in armoured trucks but there were no reports of violence in the city and the other major towns.Workers at a brick moulding factory in Harare, who said they had observed the strike on Tuesday, said they had turned up yesterday after realising many businesses had remained open on the first day.Nampa-Reuters