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Trade union boss bemoans loss of jobs
June 29, 2009
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By Our Correspondent

HARARE – Visiting Netherlands Trade Union Confederation President, Agnes Jongerius, says government should initiate moves to compensate thousands of farm workers who lost their jobs during the height of Zimbabwe’s land reform programme a few years ago.


Agnes Jongerius

Jongerius said although Zimbabwe’s land reform programme was intended to benefit ordinary Zimbabweans, her delegation has noted that the programme also left farm workers who had survived for years working in the farms now struggling to survive.

“The land reform programme which took place in the name of addressing the historical injustices, has made hundreds of thousands farm workers unemployed and homeless,” she said.

She was speaking to journalists at the end of her five day tour of Zimbabwe where she had come to assess the situation in the country in as far as the respect of trade union rights and workers rights was concerned.

Her visit was also meant to assess the political and socio economic conditions of workers and see if they were consistent with internationally recognized standards.

During her visit, she met workers from both the formal and informal sectors, Non Governmental Organisations and some workers who lost their jobs for various reasons.

She failed however to meet any government official.

She added, “Farm invasions have intensified since the inclusive government was formed and thousands of workers lost their income and have no roofs above their heads.

“The workers who have worked on these farms for many years, with some living for generations, have no say in the future of those farms.

“We have seen horrible cases of people camping by the roadside, and in needless suffering. The land audit, which is mentioned in the GPA, has not yet started. The compensations, which should be paid to former workers of expropriated farms, have not been paid.”

Jongerius also bemoaned the absence of what she said was a national policy to guarantee a minimum wage for all workers saying those working on the farms and within households were being paid wages of below $50.

She also said there were still laws that inhibited the enjoyment of basic rights among Zimbabwean workers and called on government to start paying workers living wages as opposed to the $100 day allowances each government worker is currently getting across the board.

She concurred with the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU)’s demands of a minimum $454 salary per month for all Zimbabwean workers.

Jongerius further lamented what she found to be lack of will on the part of local authorities to build suitable structures that would accommodate millions of workers who lost their jobs and were now engaged in self help projects.

“The workers surviving in the informal economy are extremely vulnerable,” she said.

“They have no social protection, no safe places to work, and although those who are organized in the ZCIEA sometimes experience support from the side of the local authorities, there are no proper policies in place on the national level to protect their livelihood and social well-being.”

She also called on government to allow its workers to participate in trade union activities as this allowed them to assert their rights as workers.

Zimbabwe’s civil servants face political victimization if they go on strike or take part in other activities which government finds as tantamount to making a political statement against the establishment
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