WORKERS UNITE! by IWW correspondent in Zimbabwe

This was worsened by drought and the outbreak of cholera that gripped most Harare’s high density surburbs. What a tragedy as many people perished! This forced the political gurus including Athur Mutambara of another MDC breakaway faction to bury the hatchet and bring heads together.

Though it took long for the starving poor peasantry and workers, the signing of the MOU gave birth to the Government of National Unity (GNU) early 2009. That clipped the wings of the high flying Central Bank Boss, Dr Gideon Gono whose actions to challenge imperialism’s global monetary policies nose-dived. What a shame. That marked the death of our big figured and bond papered dilapidating currency.

With Tendai Biti of the MDC-T installed as Finance Minister of the inclusive government, it was vociferously declared that the country was switching to the use of multiple-currencies: USD, SouthAfrican Rands and British Pounds. Pitifully, through this workers lost their hard earned cash deposited at banks.

While currently, the country’s economy is being preached to be doing well with more massive diamond discoveries, the GNU has refused to burge to the worker’s plight of salary increament. Imagine the majority of workers earns below the PDL. It then boggles our minds why the GNU is standing firm on refusing to improve peanut-buttered salaries destined for the workers.

Domestic workers are the most hard-hit after government gazetted that they deserve to earn less than USD100 last year. To civil servants and other workers, they are earning from around USD200/month as compared to USD15 000/month fit for an MP. It was then late July 2012 when civil servants defied all the odds and took to the streets petitioning the Minister of Finance, Tendai Biti, on behalf of the GPU to re-consider their salaries.

While all this is going on, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union (ZCTU) which is deep in leadership divisions is taking no action. It’s now open that Zimbabwean workers have become a sheep without a shephered. Workers have no meaningful salaries but the ZCTU cannot intervene! Workers are being accused by their selfish employers and the ZCTU is dumb founded! Diamond companies have got to remit part of their proceeds to treasury according to law of land and the ZCTU cannot make sure that this is tasked.

To make things worse, it was the government through the announcement by Biti that it is not going to offer its workers any salary increament due to an allegedly unsustainable wage bill and the ZCTU didn’t bother to even raise a finger. Obviously, the ZCTU has been hijacked by politicians and it’s imminent that the workers will not expect better leadership. This is now ripe time for Zimbabwean workers to organise to win better conditions today and build a world with economic democracy for the future.

Workers in Zimbabwe Unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains.