The Solidarity Center and the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists launched Justice for Zimbabwe Workers, a postcard campaign aimed at putting pressure on the Zimbabwean government to end its brutality against trade unonists, respect worker rights, and solve the economic crisis that has left millions of workers hungry, homeless, and jobless.

		During a peaceful protest, ZCTU leader Wellington Chibebe (in striped sweater) was beaten unconscious by police.

The crisis in Zimbabwe is spiraling out of control. Less than a decade ago, Zimbabwean workers were members of a vibrant middle class. Now they can no longer afford to put food on the table. In May 2007, the inflation rate was an incredible 3,731.9 percent, up from 2,200 percent the previous month.

More than three-fourths of Zimbabweans are jobless. Even informal work such as selling food or used clothes in the street is not a viable answer. In 2005, during “Operation Murambatsvina” (literally “Operation Drive Out Trash” but usually translated as "Operation Restore Order"), the government bulldozed impoverished neighborhoods and burned down the marketplaces where displaced workers had turned for income. Hundreds of thousands are still homeless.

Over the last five years, HIV/AIDS has decimated Zimbabwe’s population. One of every five adults lives with HIV, lifesaving drugs are far beyond the financial means of most people, and the average life expectancy is now 35 years.

“Our union is dying because our members are dying,” says Wellington Chibebe, Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions. The 300,000-member ZCTU brings attention to Zimbabwe’s worsening economic and human rights realities, demanding wages in line with inflation levels, an end to government harassment of informal workers, and free access to anti-retroviral drugs.

		“We are struggling on behalf of the workers,” says Chibebe.

“We are struggling on behalf of the workers,” says Chibebe. “No amount of victimization, no amount of harassment, no amount of torture will deter us from that.” In recognition of his courage, sacrifice, and leadership, Chibebe received the AFL-CIO’s 2003 George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award. But he had to wait more than a year to accept it, because the government would not allow him to leave the country.

Because the ZCTU stands up for workers, the federation is a frequent target of the repressive Zimbabwe dictatorship. On September 13, 2006, as part of an ongoing government campaign of harassment and brutality, police attacked marchers in a peaceful ZCTU-led demonstration, beating them with sticks as they were herded into a van. Among the more than 250 arrested were Chibebe, ZCTU President Lovemore Matombo, and ZCTU Vice-President Lucia Matibenga. Chibebe was beaten unconscious. Matibenga’s eardrum was perforated, and her body was covered with dark, swollen bruises. “They told us they were not trained to write any dockets,” Matibenga said in a video that was smuggled out of the country and widely posted on the Internet. “They were trained to kill, and they were going to kill me.”

		CBTU President Bill Lucy was banned from entering Zimbabwe to speak with ZCTU leaders.

The arrests and tortures led to a massive global outcry but no change in the government’s attitude or policy. “Some are crying that they were beaten,” scoffed Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. “Yes, you will be thoroughly beaten.” A Solidarity Center/CBTU delegation that traveled to Zimbabwe later that month in an effort to meet with ZCTU leaders was turned away at the border. As recently as March 2007, ZCTU members were severely beaten and arrested when they tried to attend a prayer vigil.

Although Zimbabwe is a member of the International Labor Organization and bound by global labor standards, the government does not recognize fundamental worker rights, such as freedom of association or assembly, and makes routine, arbitrary arrests under the draconian Public Order and Security Act, which forbids “public gatherings” of two or more people. Despite this ban, the ZCTU is planning a two-day strike in July to protest low government wages. The ZCTU has pledged to stage such strikes every three months until the government matches workers' salaries with the country's inflation levels.

The Solidarity Center supports the ZCTU through its union newspaper, The Worker. CBTU, an AFL-CIO constituency group with members from 77 U.S. unions, seeks to improve the conditions of black workers in the United States and around the world.

The ZCTU and Zimbabwean workers need your support! Send your tax-deductible contribution payable to:

Zimbabwe Worker/Solidarity Center Education Fund
Attn: Cathy Feingold
888 16th Street, NW, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20006

To request postcards, contact Information and put Postcard as your subject line.  

Learn more about the Solidarity Center's work in Zimbabwe