LABOR INCHES ITS WAY TOWARDS FURTHER MASS ACTION

UNCLAS HARARE 001062 SIPDIS SENSITIVE STATE FOR AF/S, DRL NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR JFRAZER ¶E. O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON ELAB PGOV ZI SUBJECT: LABOR INCHES ITS WAY TOWARDS FURTHER MASS ACTION SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. NOT FOR INTERNET POSTING. 1.(SBU) On May 27, the independent press published calls from the opposition party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) for a week-long series of "marches" beginning on June ¶2. The press characterizes these as part of the "final push" to remove President Mugabe from power. While labor contacts believe that some of their members will participate in the MDC action, labor leaders will not call for simultaneous action on their own part. Instead, they plan to call for further stayaways in July, should the opposition action in June not bring about change. ¶2. (SBU) Comment: This follows the pattern of the recent interplay between these two civic groups, wherein the MDC called for a stayaway in March, and the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) followed this with its own stayaway the following month. Labor continues to be concerned with the separation of its role from that of the official opposition party. Additionally, much of the ZCTU leadership's attention will be focused on the annual International Labor Organization's (ILO's) International Labour Conference in Geneva during the first week of June. Several contentious issues raised during last year's conference will be addressed, and it is unlikely that any global call for action will take place during the absence of the ZCTU's President and Secretary General. End comment. Sullivan