Workers Day 2024: Remembering Trade Unionism in #Zimbabwe

By Takura Zhangazha*

Workers Day is no longer as recognized as it should be. We learnt of labour movements from the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU).  We learnt also of cdes like Clement Kadalie, Charles Mzingeli and Reuben Jamela and their role in forming the initial nationalist movements with Joshua Nkomo. 

So Workers Day or May Day as it referred to globally by the United Nations is very important for Zimbabwe and its history.  Even in post-independence it is the mainstream labour movement (ZCTU) that formed the largest opposition movement in our country’s history.

Labour was at the core of a new national consciousness after 1987.  This new national consciousness grew in 1999 into a leftist ideological movement that sought from the state social welfare and contrary to claims by the ruling party, land equity for all working peoples of Zimbabwe.

The idea of working peoples was derived from the National Working Peoples Convention (NWPC) in 1999.  It was this NWPC that gave the mandate to the ZCTU to form what would be a working peoples party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in September of 1999.  And the party was duly launched in Chitungwiza at the Aquatic Complex.

Ideologically we were social democrats.  We wanted a society in which a fair chance would be given to all regardless of your class or station in life.  And we wanted workers rights protected and guaranteed given the fact that we were coming from the bosom of the ZCTU.

As we proceeded with not only the formation of a working peoples political party and constitutional reform via referendum campaigns in 2000, we also became aware of what was a third hand in our activism.  This was that of the white liberals who had access not only to money but also international foreign policy support. 

We could not easily fend these comrades off.  They had embedded themselves within our popular support and eventually decided to influence the Morgan Tsvangirai leadership team from any leftist leanings.

But what is important is that the labour movement survived the fact of its support for a new political party.  The ZCTU still exists. And for that we are grateful.

The only challenge that appears to be emerging is that labour rights activism is increasingly being diminished.  Mainly because workers are either no longer as conscious as they used to be of their rights.  But also because scarce employment opportunities have made unionism abstract or unimportant.  Most employees in the  contemporary no longer care about workers rights.  They  simply want to keep their jobs and never question or organize on behalf of collective worker interests.

It is something I find very surprising, if not shocking.  Many of us in Zimbabwe do not understand that we are actually workers.  Or  even if we are out of employment, we were workers’ that had rights and could effectively represent ourselves. 

The emerging culture is one of fear of losing employment if one stands up for workers rights.  It is not only with many corporate organisations’ management, the media  but also with the state/government. 

There is an underwritten assumption that we are slaves to our salaries. And the persons that sign cheques.

For young workers, they do not do unionism.  They are too afraid. The only thing they know is individualism.  Get paid and go home.  If you are lucky you will keep the job and look after your family. And in sometimes unsustainable ways.

The key issue however as we celebrate May Day/Workers Day in Zimbabwe 2024 is the fact that we are doing it for posterity.  We have to remember that our progressive post-independence  politics stemmed from the labour mAovement. Without a doubt.  

We have strayed from this progressive path because of abstract populism and also because we simply had a revolution that lost its way. Not because of Morgan Tsvangirai but because of ourselves who  thought life is all about materialism and not thinking about the collective goodwill of the communities’ we live in.  We all wanted and still want to be rich and live or even love beyond our means.

I am still a worker.  I know my rights.  I understand those who assume I am ignorant.  Just as I assume that there are many who assume we are ignorant.  Because of their proximity to those in corporate or political power.  

I will end this blog with an anedoctal point.  I knew Morgan Tsvangirai.  He was an amazing trade unionist.  I applied for an attachment with ZCTU.  I qualified, but he couldn’t hire me after he had been attacked at Chester House in Harare.  We re-met a year later at the National Constitutional Assembly.  And we discussed Karl Marx.  Extensively.  Pity we did not discuss Gramsci.  I had not yet read him. 

*Takura Zhangazha writes here in his is own personal capacity (takura-zhangazha.blogspot.com)