LABOR STAYAWAY PRODUCES MIXED RESULTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000301 SIPDIS SIPDIS AF/S FOR S. HILL NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR B. PITTMAN USAID FOR M. COPSON AND E. LOKEN ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/05/2017 TAGS: PHUM PGOV ELAB ZI SUBJECT: LABOR STAYAWAY PRODUCES MIXED RESULTS REF: A. HARARE 000275 ¶B. HARARE 000269 Classified By: Ambassador Christopher Dell under Section 1.5 b/d -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) two-day nationwide stay-away attracted a mixed response. Many businesses in Harare and other major cities closed or had limited operations at the start of the first day with a greater percentage of workers in the country's depressed industrial sector heeding the stay-away than in the service sector. However, by midday on the first day business had begun to return to normal and by the second day virtually all businesses had reopened. Government intimidation combined with poor planning and workers' fears of losing jobs were limiting factors. ZCTU claimed the action was relatively effective given the repressive environment and promised additional labor actions in the coming months. End Summary. -------------- Labor Stay-Away Attracts a Mixed Response -------------- ¶2. (U) The ZCTU nationwide stay-away to protest paltry wages and deteriorating living conditions on April 3 and 4 attracted a mixed response from workers. Anecdotally, a fair number of workers heeded the call initially and many shops and factories were closed or were operating in a reduced capacity on the morning of the first day of the stay-away. Traffic throughout the city center and industrial areas in Harare was light and there was a noticeable reduction in public transport. Participation by workers in the hard-hit industrial sector appeared higher than in other parts of the economy. ¶3. (U) However, by midday on the first day Harare's city center had begun to return to business as usual as police went door to door forcing businesses to fully open. By the second day traffic and business activities throughout the country appeared back to normal, including in industrial areas. -------------- Intimidation Limits Effect -------------- ¶4. (U) Government intimidation was a factor in the stay-away's limited success. In the days leading up to the labor action, the government-controlled newspaper The Herald ran front page headlines warning workers to ignore the "illegal" stay-away and threatening that police would be out in force to ensure shops were open. In one article, Labor Minister Nicolas Goche said employers would be expected "to deal with the workers" who chose to stay-away. ¶5. (SBU) In the event, security forces were out in force throughout the stay-away, especially in Harare's city center and the capital's high-density suburbs. On the morning of the first day, Embassy officers observed Army helicopters circling above the high density suburbs of Highfield, Glen Nora, and Dzivaresekwa. Water cannon trucks were also seen HARARE 00000301 002 OF 003 patrolling the streets in these areas. There was a large police presence in the city center, including heavily armed riot police. ¶6. (U) Government harassment even continued the day after the stay-away ended. In Thursday's edition of The Herald a front page headline read 'State to take action against firms for turning away workers.' Industry Minister Obert Mpofu said in the related article that the government wanted to identify those abetting the stay-away so that it could confront them about their motives and invoke "certain measures" against sympathizers. -------------- Job Fears, Poor Planning Also Factors -------------- ¶7. (C) Several observers noted that workers were not only afraid of losing their jobs but also could not afford to take even one day off given their low wages. That said, these observers thought the stay-away could have been more successful with better planning. MacDonald Mangauzani, spokesperson for the ZCTU affiliate Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ),told poloff that PTUZ never received flyers or information about the stay-away from ZCTU that they could pass on to their members and local representatives to use to organize support. ¶8. (C) In a briefing to civil society in Bulawayo the week before the stay-away, ZCTU organizers complained they resource constraints were hampering their ability to disseminate information and run logistics. As a result, much of what workers in Harare and throughout the country learned about the stay-away came from the government-controlled media that labeled the labor action as illegal and warned that workers could be fired for participating. -------------- ZCTU Unbowed -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Despite the mixed success of the stay-away, ZCTU officials remained defiant. ZCTU Secretary General Wellington Chibebe claimed in a Voice of America interview on April 3 that an estimated 80 percent of workers in Harare participated in the stay-away for at least portion of the first day. Even though the level of participation was less on the second day, ZCTU president Lovemore Matombo told reporters that "considering the beatings and intimidation we have witnessed recently, the stay-away was quite successful." Both leaders indicated that ZCTU planned more labor actions in the coming months. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶10. (C) The government-controlled press spent the two days of the stay-away trumpeting its failure. It is therefore curious that in the immediate aftermath, those same newspapers were threatening punishment for businesses that abetted the labor action. Although the stay-away was not the success the ZCTU might have hoped for, it was also not the failure the government would like to claim. Moreover, although the extraordinary efforts of the government to HARARE 00000301 003 OF 003 suppress participation were largely successful, they were also costly and will be increasingly difficult to repeat as the economy implodes and government revenues dry up. DELL