21.03.2002

Workers move on to the offensive

Following Robert Mugabe's stolen election victory, Zimbabwe's working class have moved into action. After days of dithering, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions finally called for a three-day stayaway - or general strike - from Wednesday March 20 to Friday March 22 in protest against the state's attack on the trade unions. It listed the following as reasons for the action: the failure to uphold trade union freedoms; attempts by the state to undermine the ZCTU (Mugabe had threatened to set up a tame, compliant, alternative body); harassment, beatings and displacement of workers in the immediate aftermath of the presidential elections. It also complained that the general 'lawlessness' and 'anarchy' afflicting the country would lead to companies and corporations pulling out of Zimbabwe and hence to job losses. Clearly the ZCTU was doing its best to contain workers' anger at Mugabe's election fraud within a 'trade union' template. It had come under massive pressure from ordinary workers, militant trade union affiliates and the International Socialist Organisation. Its call was half-hearted and not properly organised or publicised. Indeed, a substantial number of workers were unaware that a general strike had been called and only found out about it for the first time when they reported for work on the morning of March 20. Nevertheless, it was enough to strike terror into the hearts of the Zanu-PF bureaucracy. On March 19 the ZCTU secretary general, Wellington Chibhebhe, and two other top officials, were arrested under Mugabe's draconian Public Order and Security Act (Posa). The ISO has issued a statement on recent events. In it comrade Rosa Zulu, national treasurer, says: "We welcome this move by the ZCTU, but say three days of stayaway are not enough. What we need now is an indefinite general strike ... The scenario that we previously spoke of - whereby Mugabe wins and is faced with a popular backlash reaction - is beginning to unfold before our eyes." He added: "Our offices resembled the offices of the ZCTU today. We have been all out distributing our leaflet calling on workers to go on strike for the next three days, but also warning workers that the struggle could become longer. Our phones did not stop ringing, as workers called for the latest details and to confirm the next three days of action." The ISO has called on workers not to recognise the Mugabe government - even official figures showed that the presidential candidate of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, Morgan Tsvangirai, won an overwhelming majority in urban centres, especially Harare. Mugabe is hated by workers, who reject the possibility of another six years of Zanu-PF dictatorship. The ISO has also highlighted the need for a new, democratic constitution. It calls for the removal of the latest repressive security laws, including Posa; the immediate release of trade union leaders and dropping of all charges: the introduction of a Labour Relations Bill with clauses that favour and protect workers; and the total scrapping of recently imposed college and university fees. We can expect Mugabe to react using a combination of tactics - including the possibility of incorporating the Tsvangirai opposition in a government of 'national unity'. The rightwing MDC leadership has publicly claimed to be against any such idea, but it is rumoured to have already discussed the possibility of negotiations with the Mugabe regime. The plan is to form a transitional coalition government pending fresh elections in six months time. According to the ISO, "The crisis in Zimbabwe is too deep for any government of national 'unity' to survive, let alone ride out. The mass of ordinary workers are totally opposed to having anything to do with Mugabe and Zanu-PF." But there is no doubt that this 'solution' is likely to be favoured by imperialism. On March 19, Zimbabwe was suspended from the Commonwealth for 12 months. The decision to do so was taken - after much dithering and indecision - by the troika of John Howard (Australian prime minister), Thabo Mbeki (South African president) and president Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria. But any arrangement that ends the immediate crisis and reduces the threat of destabilisation spilling over the border into South Africa will be seized upon. But Mugabe has no intention of giving up power. Any government of 'national unity' would be used to shore up his own rule. And it would be wielded against the working class, which would be sure to face the same neoliberal attacks suffered under Mugabe for over a decade and championed even more vigorously by the advisors to Tsvangirai, the former militant secretary general of the ZCTU. Alongside such moves, Mugabe is likely to respond to continued strikes and demonstrations with intensified repression. In these circumstances there is a crying need for workers to organise their own units of self-defence - not only to protect themselves against the attacks from state forces and Zanu-PF thugs, but to back up their own, democratic solution, based on their own, working class power. Eddie Ford The ISO urgently needs cash, and the Socialist Alliance has agreed to help raise funds - already over £200 has been forwarded. Send donations to: First Direct Bank, 40 Wakefield Road, Leeds LS98 1FO. Account name: John Page; sort code: 40-47-78; account number: 1118 5489. Email details of deposits to isozim@hotmail.com