By Shadreck Zangairai
Moreover, trade unions have been too exaggerating in terms of the salary to workers in general. This does not depict that they serve for the employees’ interests wholeheartedly. It is widely understood that unions raise the cost of labour by raising members’ wages above market rates. Union leaders are the main beneficiaries since they strive for political advancement. Of particular reference is the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union (ZCTU) which later formed the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). The formation of the MDC in 1999, marked a new era in industrial relations, with the government accusing the ZCTU of negating its constituency, the workers, in pursuit of political gain. The ZCTU-MDC intimacy was seen as a replica of Zambia’s Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), which through the leadership of former trade unionist dislodged the country’s founding president from power. In response, the government took a proactive role in the formation of a rival union, the Zimbabwe Federation of Trade Unions (ZFTU) which had the backing of the War Veterans Association. However, instead of bringing remedy and solution to the ailing economy, the war veterans invaded factories on the pretext of trying to assist workers who were being retrenched willy-nilly and underpaid. This brought turmoil, lawlessness and confusion in the workplace.
In the early post independent years, Zimbabwean trade unions, were an important driving force of the anti-colonial liberation struggle. This was short-lived as they transformed into transmission belts of the ruling party, as was the trend in most African countries. As a reward for giving up fundamental freedoms they were offered a secured status, secure jobs for their members and privileges for their leaders. However, with the passage of time, and as a result of debt crisis and the ensuing economic liberalization, there was massive job losses in the formal economy and a strong decline in union membership. This was worsened by the fact that the government started to reform labour laws to the disadvantage of workers.
The early 1990s to mid-1990s saw the introduction of ESAP after the discarding of socialism. Among others principles, the policy of ESAP called for public enterprise reforms, budget deficit reduction, trade liberalisation, devaluation of the local currency, fiscal and monetary policy reforms, deregulation of investment, labour and price controls, cost recovery measures in social services and ending of subsidies and the retrenchments in both the public and private sectors. This affected the economy and it resulted in many workers losing their jobs since most industries were affected, such as the textiles, clothing, engineering, transport and retailing sectors. To show case their dominance, the ZCTU began to clash with the government and began to adopt a confrontational approach which caused lots of business and industrial disruptions in operations through boycotts, stay-aways and strikes. One of the most devastating labour unrest was experienced in 1997 when there was almost a total shutdown of the economy due to a massive and highly supported stay away called by the ZCTU. Government’s relations with the ZCTU dwindled and the resultant move was formation of a political party in 1999 by ZCTU together with the support of some civic society organizations. This signalled the end of ZCTU as a government backed labour party and many other stakeholders especially workers who saw the political dimension of ZCTU as negatively affecting industrial relations in pursuit of a political agenda. Since then, the functions of most trade unions which have been affiliated to either of the two politically motivated labour bodies, ZCTU and ZFTU, have since become questionable albeit at the expense of workers.
Despite the fact that their power to influence wages and working conditions and to defend workers has suffered enormously and tends to be quite weak nowadays, it won’t be fair to write-off Zimbabwean trade unions. After a long period which saw virtually no new investment in formal activities taking place in the country, there are encouraging signs that foreign investment is picking up again, creating new opportunities for trade union organisation. Above all, just like in many countries, Zimbabwean trade unions remain a political force to be reckoned with, as they continue to be one of the very few societal organisations in the country with a sizeable constituency, country-wide structures and the potential for mobilizing members on social or political matters. Trade Unions are important political and economic institutions. Unions may use their political power to gain economic objectives as well as to support other legislation which they favour. To obtain their goals, unions may follow a course of action that imposes costs on others quite, irrespective of whether or not the goal is obtained. Furthermore, unions may alter the allocation of a country’s resources among competing users through their efforts on the level and structure of wage rates. Whether trade unions are able to address these challenges and stay relevant for all workers will depend on their ability to revitalize, to develop an organisational socio-economic vision and strategic response to address the changes in the field of work.
Disclaimer: The information contained herein does not serve as alternative to legal advice. The author do not accept any liability for any damages or losses suffered as a result of actions taken based on information contained herein.
Shadreck Zangairai is a Human Resources Practitioner and for feedback, email: shadreckzanga@gmail.com,
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