The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions is the primary

trade union federation A national trade union center (or national center or central) is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a country. Nearly every country in the world has a national trade union center, and many have more than one. In some regions, such a ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

. The Secretary General of ZCTU is Japhet Moyo and the president is Peter Mutasa. The former General Secretary was

Morgan Tsvangirai Morgan Richard Tsvangirai (; ; 10 March 1952 – 14 February 2018) was a Zimbabwean politician who was Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 2009 to 2013. He was President of the Movement for Democratic Change, and later the Movement for Democratic ...

. Jeffrey Mutandare is a former president of the ZCTU.

History

The ZCTU was formed on February 28, 1981 through the merger of six trade union centres: African Trade Union Congress (ATUC), the National African Trade Union Congress (NATUC), the Trade Union Congress of Zimbabwe (TUCZ), the United Trade Unions of Zimbabwe (UTUZ), the Zimbabwe Federation of Labour (ZFL) and the Zimbabwe Trade Union Congress (ZTUC). The ZCTU was established by the ruling party, ZANU-PF, with the aim of reducing industrial disputation, and improving the influence of the government over the union movement. Prior to the creation of the state of

official trade unions in

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

were largely controlled by the white minority and worked to preserve the economic privilege of white workers over the black majority. While trade unions representing the black majority workforce did exist, their activities were hampered by the racially discriminatory Rhodesian government, and their close association with the black nationalist movement meant they were relatively inactive during the

Rhodesian Bush War The Rhodesian Bush War, also called the Second as well as the Zimbabwe War of Liberation, was a civil conflict from July 1964 to December 1979 in the unrecognised country of Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe-Rhodesia). The conflict pitted three for ...

. Trade union membership increased rapidly following the establishment of majority-rule government in 1980, and reached approximately 200,000 in 1985. The number of strikes and industrial disputes also increased dramatically, against the wishes of the new government. It was to combat this trend that the government established the ZCTU, as well as promising the introduction of a

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...

and limited

industrial democracy Industrial democracy is an arrangement which involves workers making decisions, sharing responsibility and authority in the workplace. While in participative management organizational designs workers are listened to and take part in the decisi ...

. The initial leadership of the ZCTU was politically closely associated with the government, and was dismissed in 1984 for corruption. Their replacements (following a period of caretaker administration) were also found to be corrupt, with the General Secretary removed for missappropriating funds in November 1986. The direction of the ZCTU changed dramatically after the appointment of Jeffrey Mutandare, of the Associated Mineworkers' Union. Mutandare was much more willing than previous leaders to criticise government policy, including the new Labour Relations Act of 1985, which he claimed centralised control over the trade union movement in the Ministry of Labour. In the 1990s the ZCTU grew increasingly opposed to the government of

Robert Mugabe Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of the ...

due to the government's pursuit of neoliberal economic policies, as well as perceived government corruption and authoritarianism.; Lucien van der Walt, 1998, "Trade Unions in Zimbabwe: for democracy, against neo-liberalism", ''Capital and Class'', number 66, 1998, pp. 85-117. At its 1995 Congress the ZCTU launched a major economic policy statement, 'Beyond ESAP', criticising the Mugabe government's adoption of the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP). The ESAP involved the introduction of

neoliberal Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...

macroeconomic policies, at the encouragement of the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

. The ZCTU was the main force behind the formation of the opposition party, the

Movement for Democratic Change Movement for Democratic Change or MDC may refer to: * Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai (MDC–T), the former main opposition party in Zimbabwe ** Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai Congress 2006, the second MDC–T congres ...

, established in 1999. The Secretary-General of the ZCTU,

, later became the President of the MDC.

Affiliates

As of January 2014 the following unions were affiliated to the ZCTU. *Zimbabwe Pulp & Paper Workers' Union *Zimbabwe Domestic & Allied Workers Union (ZDAWU) *Zimbabwe Chemicals & Plastics Allied Workers' Union *Zimbabwe Textile Workers Union (ZTWU) *Zimbabwe Tobacco Industrial Workers’ Union (ZTIWU) *Zimbabwe Metal, Energy & Allied Workers’ Union (ZMEAWU) *Zimbabwe Security Guards Union (ZISEGU) *Zimbabwe Banks & Allied Workers’ Union (ZIBAWU) *Zimbabwe Furniture, Timber & Allied Trades Union (ZFTATU) *Zimbabwe Educational Scientific, Social & Cultural Workers’ Union (ZESSCWU) *Zimbabwe Catering & Hotel Workers’ Union (ZCHWU) *Zimbabwe Construction and Allied Trades Workers’ Union *Zimbabwe Urban Councils Workers’ Union (ZUCWU) *Zimbabwe Union of Journalists *Zimbabwe Amalgamated Railway Workers’ Union (ZARWU) *Railway Association of Yard Operating Staff (RAYOS) *Zimbabwe Railways Artisans Union (RAU) *Railway Association of Enginemen (RAE) *National Union of the Clothing Industry (NUCI) *National Engineering Workers’ Union (NEWU) *Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Workers’ Union of Zimbabwe (MVMWUZ) *General Agriculture & Plantation Workers’ Union of Zimbabwe (GAPWUZ) *Federation of Food & Allied Workers’ Union of Zimbabwe (FFAWUZ) *Commercial Workers’ Union of Zimbabwe *Cement, Lime & Allied Workers’ Union of Zimbabwe (CLAWUZ)

References

External links

ZCTU website
{{Authority control National federations of trade unions Trade unions in Zimbabwe Trade unions established in 1981 1981 establishments in Zimbabwe