Protest Union Leaders’ Arrests in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwean police descended on a meeting of union leaders and activists on November 8 and arrested the president of the Zimbabwe Coalition of Trade Unions (ZCTU) and four staffers. The arrests interrupted coalition President Lovemore Matombo’s national tour of union affiliates designed to educate and gather feedback from members.

The union leaders were charged under the Public Order and Security Act, which prohibits Zimbabweans from holding public meetings without first informing authorities.

In a letter to President Robert Mugabe, the International Trade Union Confederation condemned the arrests as a crackdown on union activity, calling them clear violations of the freedom of association and workers’ right to organize.

Referring to the power-sharing agreement reached in 2008 between Mugabe and the Movement for Democratic Change opposition party, the ITUC said it had hoped that the creation of the inclusive government “would have made severe trade union repression become a thing of the past.”

SUPPORT LABOR NOTES

BECOME A MONTHLY DONOR

Give $10 a month or more and get our "Fight the Boss, Build the Union" T-shirt.

Amid uproar from the international labor movement, Matombo and his staff were released November 12 when a magistrate threw out the charges, citing a 2002 decision excluding unions from the public order act’s provisions. The magistrate scolded police in court for their apparent inability to follow the law.

Now the ZCTU is on the offensive. ZCTU Secretary General Wellington Chibebe demanded police reform, saying that Zimbabweans deserve a “professional non-partisan force.”

The union is calling for the resignation of the co-ministers of home affairs, citing their failure to rein in politicization of the police force.

Send a letter calling on the Zimbabwe government to take politics out of the police force and put a stop to violation of basic union rights, to the Embassy of Zimbabwe, 1608 New Hampshire Ave., Washington, D.C., 20009. Contact Ambassador mapuranga [at] zimbabwe-embassy [dot] us (Machivenyika Mapuranga).