ZCTU comes up with five-year strategic plan

Presently, Zimbabwe has 33 unions that ZCTU intends to reduce to 17.

 

In an interview yesterday, ZCTU secretary-general Mr Japhet Moyo said the number of their affiliates would be scaled down through mergers.

“We need to bring the unions together. This will be done by merging unions from related sectors so that we strengthen trade unionism in the country.

“For example, we want to combine unions that represent workers in the leather, and textile and clothing sectors. We believe that when the unions come together, they will become powerful and are treated with respect by employers when they go for collective bargaining and arbitration,” he said.

He said the merging of trade unions was not peculiar to Zimbabwe as a number of countries the world over implement the system.

He said some countries had a workforce of more than 500 000 across the board and were represented by less than 33 unions.

Mr Moyo said data from the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat), shows that 700 000 people are employed in the country’s formal sector.

“We have already started organising for the mergers of unions. For example, in the metal sector, certain processes have begun. As mergers start, unions do not have to merge with any union of their choice but the mergers will see affiliates in related sectors coming together so that robust unionism is developed,” he said.

In trying to bring together respective unions in related sectors, Mr Moyo predicted that ZCTU was likely to face resistance from the unions’ leadership as some individuals would sideline the move for personal interests.

“How smooth is the merger of unions; it will be a difficult programme to implement in face of some unions leadership as they would want to remain clinging onto power because they know that if the unions are merged, they will lose their authority,” he said.

To address resistance from the unions’ leadership, he said ZCTU encouraged workers affiliated to such unions to give vote of no confidence when they go for their annual congresses.

“Merging unions promotes unity and power among the workers when they go for collective bargaining.”

Other programmes that ZCTU will include on its five-year strategic plan include revitalising the shop stewardship programme as well as strengthening the trade union through capacity building.