Zimbabwe unions call for strike over salary freeze

HARARE – Zimbabwe’s main labour federation called on Saturday for a two-day strike this month to protest President Robert Mugabe’s wage freeze, but said there would be no street marches for fear of possible violent state reprisals.

Analysts say strikes over labour and social issues in recent years have largely failed due to government intimidation and workers’ fears of losing their jobs in a country that has an 80 per cent unemployment rate. The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions’ (ZCTU) general council on Saturday discussed the impact of the country’s economic crisis on workers, as well as Mugabe’s order last month banning salary and price hikes without official authority.It resolved to hold a strike on September 19 and 20.Mugabe last month imposed a new law barring Zimbabwean businesses from increasing wages to keep pace with the world’s highest inflation rate, running above 7 000 per cent.On Saturday ZCTU president Lovemore Matombo told reporters that the union was protesting the freeze, as well as failure by businesses to meet labour’s demands for a minimum monthly wage of 8,2 million Zimbabwe dollars ($273,33).Last week’s mid-year budget had failed to address workers’ concerns, Matombo said.”We have resolved that national action is on 19-20 September and the form will be a stay-away,” he said.Mugabe’s government in April stifled a national strike called by the ZCTU by deploying armed and riot police in the country’s main urban centres.Zimbabwe is in the throes of a crippling economic crisis also shown in shortages of foreign currency, fuel and food.The shortages have widened after the government price controls.Mugabe accuses the ZCTU of fronting for the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change, which he says is being used by his Western foes to oust him from power.Nampa-ReutersThe Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions’ (ZCTU) general council on Saturday discussed the impact of the country’s economic crisis on workers, as well as Mugabe’s order last month banning salary and price hikes without official authority.It resolved to hold a strike on September 19 and 20.Mugabe last month imposed a new law barring Zimbabwean businesses from increasing wages to keep pace with the world’s highest inflation rate, running above 7 000 per cent.On Saturday ZCTU president Lovemore Matombo told reporters that the union was protesting the freeze, as well as failure by businesses to meet labour’s demands for a minimum monthly wage of 8,2 million Zimbabwe dollars ($273,33).Last week’s mid-year budget had failed to address workers’ concerns, Matombo said.”We have resolved that national action is on 19-20 September and the form will be a stay-away,” he said.Mugabe’s government in April stifled a national strike called by the ZCTU by deploying armed and riot police in the country’s main urban centres.Zimbabwe is in the throes of a crippling economic crisis also shown in shortages of foreign currency, fuel and food.The shortages have widened after the government price controls.Mugabe accuses the ZCTU of fronting for the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change, which he says is being used by his Western foes to oust him from power.Nampa-Reuters