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How to help Zimbabwe's trade unionists

Issue date
TUC Aid appeal 2008

Solidarity with trade unionists abroad

Zimbabwe - ZCTU

Support for our colleagues in Zimbabwe has tragically been a major feature of UK trade union work for some considerable time now, and the representative of the ZCTU who spoke at Congress last September made the tragedy of Zimbabwe vividly real.

With chronic unemployment and underemployment and the world's highest inflation figure of at least 10,000% per annum, maintaining an effective trade union federation structure consisting of 36 unions is a huge challenge.

Ongoing surveillance, harassment and intimidation by the Mugabe regime, to the point where even mobile phone numbers have to be changed regularly, means that the TUC has had to run successive appeals for money to cover legal and medical bills for when our brothers and sisters are arrested and beaten - last year we contributed £6,000.

The President of the ZCTU, Lovemore Matombo, was in the UK in November. He reported on a continuing acute need for practical materials for the ZCTU and affiliates to operate on a daily basis - such as office and communications equipment: computers, printers and mobile phones. Another important area of need is the costs to both the ZCTU and its affiliated unions of holding their annual meetings and filing their audited accounts, in accordance with their respective constitutions - because if they don't then it provides the Mugabe regime with a 'legitimate' pretext to close them down.

As well as meeting these urgent funding needs, the TUC and Action for Southern Africa have been discussing a twinning campaign to bring unions in the UK and Zimbabwe together, and this will be launched shortly.

Details of how you can help are at http://www.tuc.org.uk/international/index.cfm?mins=265

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