AFRICA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

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criticized other governments for trying to interfere with the ‘‘continuing liberation
struggle.’’ The Government’s far-reaching fast-track resettlement program designated
97 percent of large-scale, white-owned commercial farms for seizure with no
clear means for providing compensation, and government supporters and war veterans
assaulted commercial farmers in their homes and forced hundreds from their
property (see Sections 1.a., 1.c., and 1.f.). Ruling party supporters seldom were arrested
or charged for infringing upon minority rights.
Although relations between the Shona and the Ndebele have improved since the
Shona-dominated government suppressed an alleged insurgency by Ndebele civilians
in the 1980s that killed an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 Ndebele civilians in
Matabeleland, the disproportionate number of Shona speaking teachers and headmasters
in Matabeleland schools remained a sensitive issue. Members of the
Ndebele community continued to criticize the Government’s unequal distribution of
national resources and the Government’s failure to compensate victims of the 1980’s
Matabeleland killings.
Section 6. Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association.—The Labor Relations Act (LRA) provides private sector
workers with freedom of association and the right to elect their own representatives,
publish newsletters, set programs and policies that reflect the political and
economic interests of labor, and form or join unions without prior authorization, and
workers exercised these rights. The LRA allows for the existence of multiple unions
per industry, provided that each is registered with the Ministry of Public Service,
Labor, and Social Welfare (MPSLSW). While the Government can deregister individual
unions, the High Court has ruled that the LRA does not give the Minister
the power to suspend or deregister the national umbrella labor confederation, the
ZCTU. In 2001 ZANU-PF brought the Labor Relations Amendment Bill before Parliament
that proposed enhanced dispute settlement mechanisms and increased procedural
barriers required before unions can call a strike, and the parliamentary
legal committee issued an adverse report on the bill, calling many of its provisions
unconstitutional. The Zimbabwe Tripartite Task Team-composed of representatives
from the Government, employers, and workers—met in August to consider the proposed
amendments to the LRA. There were serious objections to some of the bill’s
language from labor unions, and there was little consensus as to the final form of
the proposed amendments. The bill remained under consideration at year’s end.
At the end of 2001, approximately 25 percent of the formal sector work force (approximately
400,000 workers) belonged to the 31 unions that form the ZCTU; however,
labor unions suffered dramatic losses in membership due to the contraction of
the economy over the past 2 years. In 2001 more than 80 percent of all industries
were unionized; however, during the year, the percentage was between 65 and 70
percent. Approximately 160,000 workers belong to unions (roughly 17 percent of the
workforce), although not all were dues paying members. Although the Government
encouraged the ZCTU’s formation, anticipating that it would form the labor arm of
ZANU-PF, it no longer controlled the ZCTU; many of the leaders of the MDC began
their public careers with the ZCTU. ZCTU officers were elected by delegates of affiliated
trade unions at congresses held every 5 years; the ZCTU elected a new leadership
at its congress in February 2001. ZANU-PF reportedly tried to influence the
election of its preferred candidates at the congress by paying the back dues of affiliated
unions and bribing congress delegates; however, the majority of candidates
elected were independent of ZANU-PF. The Government and the ZCTU regularly
clashed sharply over economic policy. The Government often did not consult either
the ZCTU or employers before implementing policy decisions that affected the workplace.
This lack of consultation often resulted in disrupted labor relations.
Public servants and their associations, the Public Service Association (PSA), and
its branch associations, the Zimbabwe Teachers Association (ZIMTA), the Zimbabwe
Nurses Association, and the Civil Service Employees Association, were not covered
by provisions of the LRA. Instead, their conditions of employment were provided for
under the Constitution. Although civil servants constitutionally were barred from
forming unions, the PSA, and its affiliated associations, were members of the ZCTU.
The Labor Relations Amendment Act (LRAA) specifies that workers may establish
independent worker committees, which existed side by side with unions in each
plant. Worker committees also had to be registered with the MPSLSW, which was
free to refuse registration. ZCTU officials believed that the formation of worker committees
was an attempt to dilute union authority, because the worker committees
comprised both union and nonunion workers; however, the ineffectiveness of worker
committees demonstrated the need for the experienced worker representation of the
established trade unions.
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