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

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SUMMARY
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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.

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Labor Stay-Away Attracts a Mixed Response
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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.

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Intimidation Limits Effect
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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

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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.

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Job Fears, Poor Planning Also Factors
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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.

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ZCTU Unbowed
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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.

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Comment
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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

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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