Conference on Solidarity with Zimbabwean Trade Unionists

TUC/ACTSA CONFERENCE ON ZIMBABWE

4 NOVEMBER 2006

Frances O' Grady, TUC Deputy General Secretary

Thank you all for coming to this joint TUC/ACTSA conference.

Let me first warmly welcome Lovemore.

Thank you for making the long journey to be with us today.

And thank you for the courage you have shown.

We applaud the work you do and we recognise the risks you are forced to take - day in, day out - to stand up and speak out for working people in Zimbabwe.

You are an inspiration to us all.

And it goes without saying that you have our support and our solidarity at all times.

The TUC has a very close relationship with the ZCTU, and if there is any consolation to be had from recent events, it is that the ties that bind us together have become even stronger.

I want to pay tribute to ACTSA for doing so much to keep Zimbabwe in the spotlight here in the UK.

Recognition is also due to unions represented here, particularly Amicus, for all the practical support you have offered to Zimbabwean trade unionists.

I would also like to thanks those who have added their voices to the campaign, especially to our friend Ian McCartney, and those represented on the platform today.

There can be no doubt that the situation in Zimbabwe has become truly desperate.

Once a beacon of hope for the African continent, the country is now in melt down.

Unemployment stands at 80 per cent.

Inflation is now 1,200 per cent.

Basic foodstuffs are in short supply.

Anti-retro viral drugs to treat HIV-AIDS sufferers are virtually non-existent.

Many women do not even have access to sanitary towels.

And life expectancy in Zimbabwe has fallen to just 35 years.

We do not forget the long cruel history of British colonial rule - the Pass Laws, the Land Acts, the laws that divided jobs on race lines and banned black workers from forming trade unions.

And we remember that even as the white supremacist state tried to suppress them, trade unions were central to the struggle for liberation, independence and democracy.

In more recent times, the neo liberal policies of the IMF and the World Bank have taken their toll.

But the Zimbabwean government alone must be held responsible for the current catastrophic crackdown on human and labour rights.

Just six weeks ago the TUC Congress heard from ZCTU Vice President Thabitha Khumalo about the conditions facing her compatriots.

Her speech was moving and uplifting.

But as she gave it - on the 13^th September - hundreds of her trade union comrades were being arrested and brutalised for holding a peaceful protest in Harare.

What happened that day was horrific.

Some of the protestors - among them women - were beaten for two and a half hours by police and government thugs.

A number needed surgery as a result.

One doctor said: 'as a case of police brutality on a group, it is the worst I have ever seen'.

And the President said 'they deserved to be beaten'.

Their crime?

Speaking out on behalf of workers and those without work.

Campaigning for human dignity.

For organising as trade unionists.

As democratic organisations, it's clear that trade unions are under sustained and systematic attack.

People are being denied the basic right to organise collectively.

To mobilise against poverty and for jobs, homes and healthcare.

They need our support.

As we say in our movement, an injury to one is an injury to all.

The TUC will do everything we can to help the fight against this injustice.

We have written to Robert Mugabe setting out our concerns in the strongest possible terms.

We were proud to support the International Day of Action on 22^nd September.

We have condemned the violation of trade union rights at the ILO and will continue to do so.

We will keep pressing our government to work through the EU to put pressure on the regime in Harare.

And we will continue to offer practical and financial assistance to our comrades in Zimbabwe.

I urge you all to support the ongoing appeal being organised by TUC Aid.

But this can only be a start.

We must step up our struggle against poverty, repression and violence.

We will not rest until these wrongs are righted around the world.

What the people of Zimbabwe need most is our solidarity.

So to the workers and trade unionists of Zimbabwe, we say loud and clear.

Your struggle is our struggle.

Thank you.