Zimbabwe's struggle for good governance: women in unions, unions and women

ACTSA Dignity:Period Rally

Trafalgar Square, Saturday 10 March

Speech by Frances O'Grady, TUC Deputy General Secretary

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On behalf of the six and a half million trade union members in Britain, I am here to express our solidarity with the trade unionists of Zimbabwe.

And, on behalf of the 50% of our members who are women, solidarity with the women of Zimbabwe and our sisters in the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions!

Thanks to Action for Southern Africa for organising today's event and for the great campaigning work they have done on behalf of all of the peoples of Southern Africa.

Thanks also to Amicus and Unison, the TUC's two biggest unions, for sponsoring today's event.

And thanks to everyone here for coming to show your solidarity and to remind the corrupt elite that rules Zimbabwe that there is an alternative.

But thanks most of all to Lucia and Lovemore and their sisters and brothers in the ZCTU for what they do for the ordinary people of Zimbabwe who suffer the most!

The TUC has stood in solidarity with the ZCTU since its formation a quarter of a century ago. Those were confident times, and unions who had played such a key role in the struggle against colonialism had high hopes.

It is a tragedy that Zimbabwe has been plunged into the horrors of hyper-inflation - currently at a jaw-dropping 1600% - famine and dictatorship in the years since the ZCTU was created. And it is appalling that unions who struggled for independence are now derided by their President as 'the enemy within'.

We know that the women and men of Zimbabwe are suffering. Many of them have lost their livelihoods. Some have had their property destroyed. Their rights have been trampled upon. The Government of Zimbabwe has no regard for their welfare and dignity.

Women, and women in the trade unions, have borne the brunt of the misery and brutality caused by Robert Mugabe's clique.

Workers in the informal sector, most of them women, have been forced from their homes.

Most of those infected with the HIV/AIDS virus in Zimbabwe are women - but unlike Mugabe's cronies, they are not getting the anti-retroviral drugs they need.

Many brave women activists in the trade union movement and beyond have been imprisoned, beaten and raped by Mugabe's thugs.

And, as the Dignity:Respect campaign has shown, women in Zimbabwe are regularly denied the sanitary goods that women in Britain take for granted.

But women in Zimbabwe will not give in without a fight.

In May last year nearly 200 people were arrested when campaigners from Women of Zimbabwe Arise organised a peaceful march to protest against the increase in school fees. Eight of those arrested were mothers with infants. Seventy-three were children aged between 7 and 8.

Trade unionists face the same brutality. People here may remember that Thabitha Khumalo, a Vice-President of the ZCTU, addressed our Congress last September.

While she was addressing our Congress, Robert Mugabe's police arrested and assaulted Lucia, Lovemore and many of their colleagues for the so-called crime of protesting peacefully against the high cost of living, for anti-retroviral drugs for HIV/AIDS patients, and for their democratic rights.

Trade unionists around the world have always struggled for decent work and social justice. We also struggle for democracy, free speech and good governance.

In Africa, our sisters and brothers have led the campaign for open, honest government so often. In Nigeria, in South Africa, and last month in Guinea - where the President was forced to give up some of his power by general strike after general strike - trade unionists have laid down their lives for democracy and against tyranny.

In Zimbabwe, there will be no freedom without the hard work and sacrifice of the women and men of the ZCTU.

Women in the trade union movement in Zimbabwe are at the forefront of the struggle.

They have shown great courage, determination and tenacity in defying the Government of Zimbabwe in its relentless onslaught on their rights.

The British trade union movement pays tribute to what they have done and what they go on doing.

Last month, trade unionists in Britain and across Europe - led by our sisters and brothers in France - persuaded the French government to stop Mugabe coming to the Franco-Africa summit, and persuaded the European Union to maintain its sanctions on Mugabe and his cronies.

Now we are campaigning to stop the Portuguese government from inviting Mugabe to the EU-Africa summit this autumn.

The only think Mugabe could do for Africa's future is to set Zimbabwe free by resigning or retiring.

He didn't make it to Cannes, now let's keep him out of the Algarve, too!

Trade unions in Britain have supported the Dignity:Period campaign, and we are working with others to denounce the human rights violations of the Zimbabwean government.

Next month, Zimbabwean trade unionists will be out in force again, demonstrating against the economic catastrophe that Robert Mugabe has brought down on his people, and against his desperate attempts to make Zimbabwe's workers pay for the crisis.

We will be with them in spirit, we will be with them in solidarity.

Their struggle is our struggle, because we are trade unionists, and an injury to one is an injury to all.

Freedom for Zimbabwe!