ZCTU CRISIS CONTINUES

C O N F I D E N T I A L HARARE 000981 SIPDIS SENSITIVE AF FOR DAS T. WOODS AF/S FOR B. NEULING OVP FOR NULAND NSC FOR DNSA ABRAMS, SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR C. COURVILLE USDOC FOR ROBERT TELCHIN TREASURY FOR OREN WYCHE-SHAW PASS USTR FOR FLORIZELLE LISER STATE PASS USAID FOR MARJORIE COPSON USDOL FOR ROBERT YOUNG USMISSION GENEVA FOR JOHN CHAMBERLAIN E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2010 TAGS: ELAB ECON PGOV ZI SUBJECT: ZCTU CRISIS CONTINUES REF: A. A. HARARE 617 ¶B. B. HARARE 671 ¶C. C. HARARE 703 Classified By: Charge d' Affaires a.i. under Section 1.4 b/d -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, (ZCTU) Information Officer Mlamleli Sibanda told PolOff on July 15 that two separate ZCTU meetings were disrupted within the past week by &trouble-maker8 unions (Ref A and B). In one meeting, four women were beaten up badly by several men. Sibanda added that the Commercial Workers Union of Zimbabwe,s leadership battle is stuck in court, leaving the ZCTU without the full engagement of its largest affiliate. End Summary. -------------- ZCTU In-Fighting Continues -------------- ¶2. (C) According to Sibanda, two separate meetings were disrupted within the past week by the &trouble-maker8 unions, which were now calling themselves the Aggrieved Affiliates Worker,s Union (AAWU). On July 9, a ZCTU Women,s Advisory Council meeting was disrupted when 20 men barged in and assaulted those in attendance - mostly women. Four women were beaten up badly, including the Women,s Advisory Council,s Chairperson Phoebe Vhareta and Secretary Tabitha Khumalo. On July 13, two men tried to scuttle a Pensions Workshop by starting minor scuffles. However, the police were called and took custody of the two men and the meeting continued. ¶3. (C) Sibanda told PolOff that these incidents were spearheaded by the AAWU, which had failed to change the ZCTU leadership in May (Ref B). Although the AAWU included the Zimbabwe Leather Shoes and Allied Workers Union, the Transport and General Workers Union, and the Zimbabwe Construction and Allied Workers Union, Sibanda asserted that only the leadership and a small minority of each union actually supported the effort. He categorically dismissed the AAWU,s assertion that it represented 19 ZCTU affiliates, stating that such a number would represent a majority of the ZCTU General Council and be enough to make whatever changes they wanted. -------------- Commercial Workers Union Still Paralyzed -------------- ¶4. (C) Sibanda said the Commercial Workers Union of Zimbabwe (CWOZ) remained paralyzed, as it had been since a group claiming to be members held an impromptu meeting in May to change the union,s leadership (Ref C). CWOZ President Lucia Matibenga and the rest of the unions, leadership had won an injunction preventing the rebels from conducting union business in June. However, another judge had subsequently ruled July 13 in favor of the rebel union members. Sibanda told PolOff that Matibenga and the CWOZ leadership had appealed this latest ruling, but in the interval ZCTU was effectively without the full engagement of its largest affiliate. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶5. (C) After failing to change the ZCTU leadership in May, the &renegade8 affiliates have re-organized themselves as the AAWU and re-doubled their efforts to disrupt and paralyze the ZCTU. The AAWU and the renegade CWOZ group have effectively mired the ZCTU in intra- and inter-affiliate strife. For now, a distracted ZCTU will probably continue to be largely invisible in Zimbabwean political and social life as its membership (and the rest of Zimbabwe) suffer through social and economic turmoil. SCHULTZ NNNN