IN an article published in NewsDay yesterday, the United States Department of State made some very poignant observations about Zimbabwe’s labour sector.
The US Department of State produced a report titled: Human Rights Practices in Zimbabwe in which it unsettlingly noted that the Zimbabwean government was doing very little to protect the country’s workers from unfair labour practices, particularly in the farming, informal and domestic service sectors.
Besides failing to adequately “enforce labour, occupational safety and health laws” across sectors, government was also found wanting in protecting workers to exercise their right to unionise and has been accused of intimidating, arresting, detaining and torturing some union leaders in violation of their rights.
This is quite an embarrassing indictment on a government that is urging the citizens, through its mantra: Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo (a country is built by its citizens), to rally and work hard to develop the country.
In God, the gods and ancestors’ name, honestly how can Zimbabweans be expected to meaningfully contribute to the development of their country when they are being abused and ill-treated at workplaces? How can citizens give their utmost when their rights are being trodden upon and their government, which is supposed to protect them, appears to be helping trample them down?
We have often heard civil servants moaning over poor wages and working conditions, which speaks volumes about government’s commitment to build this country. Is government suggesting that citizens should be enslaved to build the country? If so, this is the height of absurdity.
The old maxim: Charity begins at home, suffices here; and we, therefore, urge government to start treating its own workers humanely if it hopes to successfully rally the citizens to build the country.
Private sector employers, especially in the farming, informal and domestic sectors, are simply duplicating government’s labour practices and riding roughshod over their workforce.
If truth be told, as the situation stands, the mantra Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo sounds very hollow. It sounds so empty simply because the basic incentives to motivate the citizens to work to build the country are non-existent.
When nationals provide their labour, they need to do so under humane conditions and be decently remunerated. They should be paid a living wage that affords them an opportunity to bring food to the table and return to their workplaces well-fed and strong enough to carry out their duties.
Under the present circumstances, we find it difficult to understand how the country hopes to achieve upper-middle income status by 2030 when workers’ rights are being violated left, right and centre. At this rate that goal will never be achieved, even in a thousand years.
Trampling on labour laws and workers’ rights, for instance, will in fact increase poverty levels in the country. There is no way a nation can develop when the builders are hungry, malnourished and barely allowed to speak out about their unsustainable circumstances.
