Zimpapers Logo

George Nkiwane (President Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions)
What are your concerns as workers? We are concerned by a number of things as workers. Number One, is company closures and job losses which have led to people being pushed onto the streets with little to fall back on. Number Two, is the statement that was made by the Reserve Bank Governor John Mangundya saying that there should be a salary freeze. At that point some companies and workers had already begun negotiating but they came back and said, ‘This is what the RBZ has said’. We are saying we have forums such as National Employment Councils and the Tripartite Negotiating Forum that should be used for such negotiations.

We are also concerned about the lack of investment whether local or foreign, which means that people coming out of colleges are unlikely to find jobs.

Is the labour movement still relevant?

Yes it is still very relevant. What we are worried about though is that when things happen that are beyond the movement’s control, the blame comes to us.

Everything has to do with the economy and if the economy is booming, the labour movement becomes more visible. But I can say the labour movement is still relevant in Zimbabwe.

What needs to be done for the Zimbabwean worker?

The worker needs job security. You want to go to work in the knowledge that you still have a job but right now you can go to work and find the company closed and workers are unsure of their future.

As labour we are saying we should engage business and Government to map out what we have to do and restore the confidence of investors.

We also want to increase production in companies which will see the creation of more jobs and also increase revenues for Government. We all want to see the economy grow.

Thirdly we need to resuscitate the the TNF and if that is done we can agree on objectives and plans for the immediate and long term.

Lovemore Matombo (Concerned Affiliates of the ZCTU)

Our Government should begin to walk the ZIMASSET talk urgently if we are to avoid the inevitable slide into a total economic Armageddon.

We the workers of Zimbabwe today would like to demand that the Government of Zimbabwe quickly move to:

1. Stem the tide of corruption by arresting all those who have looted our resources with impunity.

2. Quickly put in place measures that will end company closures and create jobs for our desperate youths.

3. Engage with all stakeholders to resuscitate the sick economy before it falls into comatose.

4. Reduce executive expenditure and stop the lavish spending on luxury vehicles and other trinkets for elected leaders.

5. Desist from cutting costs by freezing civil service salaries, withdrawing bonuses and hiking rentals for Government accommodation as this encourages profit mongering private sector employer to follow suit.