…Most employees bemoaned the erosion of their salaries through the depreciation of the $RTGS citing that the deteriorating and unstable macro-economic environment has had a serious impact on the worker and their quest for decent work. According to ZCTU, workers were getting an average income of $RTGS 300 which is far below the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) food basket currently pegged at $967.50. The workers union said prices of most products have gone up by over 300 percent in the last few months and the prices continue to rise at break-neck speed which was seriously eroding the incomes of ordinary workers who are now increasingly finding it hard to survive on their meager wages.

Own Correspondent

The country’s most representative workers’ federation, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has called on Government to urgently convene a Tripartite Negotiating Forum (TNF) meeting to discuss economic challenges being faced by the nation, insisting that social dialogue is the only solution.

Part of the people that attended the Workers Day commemorations in Mutare.

TNF is a negotiation platform whereby the three social partners, labour, government and business discuss policies before they are implemented. ZCTU celebrated this year’s Workers Day under the theme; “We Are At A Crossroads! Unite, Fight Neoliberalism and Austerity.” Over 300 workers drawn from across industrial sectors convened at Mutare’s Moffat Hall in the high density suburb of Sakubva for the commemoration.

In a key note address during this year’s Workers Day celebrations in Mutare last week Wednesday, ZCTU’s 2nd vice president, Florence Taruvinga said national ownership engineered through stakeholder participation was a key lesson from past experiences.

She cautioned the government against implementing programs without stakeholder participation saying it was hurting the majority populace. “How do we expect to succeed when programmes are being rolled out without stakeholder participation? How can Cabinet approve a ‘Macro-economic and Fiscal Stabilization Program’ without stakeholder participation and ownership? As ZCTU, we demand that the Government of Zimbabwe institute comprehensive public engagement mechanisms as the basis for moving forward and addressing the myriad of challenges bedeviling the economy,’’ she said.

Taruvinga said an institutional framework to promote such public engagement was already in place citing the Kadoma Declaration. “We must negotiate a new social contract as the basis for recovery and inclusive, broad-based growth and human development. An institutional framework to promote such public engagement, the TNF, is already in place and we have the Kadoma Declaration as the reference point,’’ she said.

Florence Taruvinga

ZCTU criticized the second republic for unilaterally ushering in neoliberalism policies which the labour body claims threatens the existence of workers as well as hurting the grassroots. Speaking at the same occasion, a Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare representative from the Mutare Provincial Offices, Rumbidzai Ranganai revealed that the Tripartite Negotiating Bill was gazzeted last year in June and was currently before the parliament.
‘’The TNF Bill seeks to create a binding legal framework among the social partners. As a result the law will enable the emergence of a binding, accountable, transparent, effective and responsive social dialogue platform capable of contributing to the sustainable development of the country especially in relation to relations between employers, employees and government,’’ she said

Most employees bemoaned the erosion of their salaries through the depreciation of the $RTGS citing that the  deteriorating and unstable macro-economic environment has had a serious impact on the worker and their quest for decent work. According to ZCTU, workers were getting an average income of $RTGS 300 which is far below the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) food basket currently pegged at $967.50.  The workers union said prices of most products have gone up by over 300 percent in the last few months and the prices continue to rise at break-neck speed which was seriously eroding the incomes of ordinary workers who are now increasingly finding it hard to survive on their meager wages.

Workers kicked off the day with a colourful procession from Masara Service Station in Sakubva up to Moffat Hall. Amongst those who attended the workers day event were the Mutare Mayor Blessing Tandi, Councilors, MDC-Alliance legislators Innocent Goneso and Regai Tsunga as well as the party’s secretary general Douglas Mwonzora.