Opinion / Columnist
Zim Independence Celebrations paraded amid unaddressed workers' grievances
17 Apr 2023 at 17:50hrs | Views
HARARE - The president of NMWUZ - (the National Mine Workers' Union of Zimbabwe) has sent His Excellence President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa of the Second Republic of Zimbabwe, all workers in general and mine workers in particular and the generality of the Zimbabwean populace a happy forty-third independence day congratulatory message.
"Yes, we're celebrating forty-three years of independence from British colonial rule but amid the misery of workers due to prolonged and unaddressed workers' grievances and demands as employers continue to neglect their plight," lamented Mr. Kurebwa Javangwe Nomboka, the president of NMWUZ in Harare yesterday.
After gaining independence from Britain, Zimbabwe has done little to nothing in addressing conditions of workers in general and mine workers in particular. Apart from addressing colonial racial imbalances which favored white against black labour, no significant progress has so far been made in adjusting wages and working conditions as most employers are awarding employees wages that are way down below the PDL - Poverty datum line.
NMWUZ president further castigated the way Zimbabwe has handled the demands of its workforce, arguing the worker today has no joy, and is worker earning "peanuts", has no housing allowance, no pension plan, while fees are still being charged for even dipping livestock, with high taxation of the workers meagre wages thus revealing clearly how workers in present-day independent Zimbabwe are still reeling under the oppressive ripple effect of the former Ian Smith colonial administration of Salisbury, now called Harare
Apparently, Nomboka added saying some Chinese mining firms in Zimbabwe had been repeatedly alleged to be physically victimizing workers while Government continues to turn a blind eye on, taking no action to address the issue.
"Though as workers we're still not enjoying our fundamental freedoms such as association, assembly and expression, we're all the same wishing Zimbabwe a happy independence day," said Nomboka.
Zimbabwe's 2023 independence day elebrations are historical in the sense that they are being held in rural Mt. Darwin for the first time.
"Yes, we're celebrating forty-three years of independence from British colonial rule but amid the misery of workers due to prolonged and unaddressed workers' grievances and demands as employers continue to neglect their plight," lamented Mr. Kurebwa Javangwe Nomboka, the president of NMWUZ in Harare yesterday.
After gaining independence from Britain, Zimbabwe has done little to nothing in addressing conditions of workers in general and mine workers in particular. Apart from addressing colonial racial imbalances which favored white against black labour, no significant progress has so far been made in adjusting wages and working conditions as most employers are awarding employees wages that are way down below the PDL - Poverty datum line.
Apparently, Nomboka added saying some Chinese mining firms in Zimbabwe had been repeatedly alleged to be physically victimizing workers while Government continues to turn a blind eye on, taking no action to address the issue.
"Though as workers we're still not enjoying our fundamental freedoms such as association, assembly and expression, we're all the same wishing Zimbabwe a happy independence day," said Nomboka.
Zimbabwe's 2023 independence day elebrations are historical in the sense that they are being held in rural Mt. Darwin for the first time.
Source - Maxwell Teedzai
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