Building from the Rubble

Lloyd Sachikonye, Brian Raftopoulos

Description

Building from the Rubble is the latest volume to trace the history of Zimbabwe’s labour movement, following Keep on Knocking (1997) and Striking Back (2001). Even though it focuses on the period between 2000-2017, the analysis reviews the changes in trade unionism throughout the post-colonial era.
For much of this period, the unions faced massive challenges, including state violence and repression, funding limitations, splits, factionalism, and problems of organising at factory level.
Perhaps the greatest challenge was the massive structural change in the economy. Deindustrialisation and the informalisation of work decimated the potential membership of the unions and redefined the trajectory of the movement. The growing precarity of work and the loss of formal employment placed the future of trade unions in great jeopardy. Notwithstanding these challenges, the importance of the labour movement continued to resonate with workers.
The editors conclude that the unions needs to reconnect with their social base at the workplace, and rebuild structures and alliances in the informal economy, the rural sector, and with residents’ associations and social media movements. ‘This’ they write ‘is a critical post-Mugabe agenda that should be seized by the labour movement at all levels, from shop-floor to district, regional and national spaces.

Informations

• Publié par: Weaver Press
• Date de parution: 23 septembre 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781177922340
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 7 Mo

Extrait

Published by Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung,
6 Ross Ave., Belgravia, Harare, Zimbabwe
and
Weaver Press, Box A1922, Avondale, Harare. 2018
<www.weaverpresszimbabwe.com>
© Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 2018
Typeset by Weaver Press
Cover Design: Danes Design
Printed by Directory Publishers, Bulawayo
The editors would like to express their gratitude to the
Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Zimbabwe for their assistance with the
development of this text.
All rights reserved. No part of the publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means – electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise – without the express
written permission of the publisher.
ISBN: 978-1-77922-341-8 (p/b) Weaver Press
ISBN: 978-1-77922-342-5 (e-pub) W
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Table of Contents
ixForeword by Peter Gift Mutasa, ZCTU President
Preface by Ulrich Golaszinski, Director, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Zimbabwe
Chapter 1
1Introduction: Godfrey Kanyenze, Brian Raftopoulos and Lloyd Sachikonye
Chapter 2
The Labour Movement and the Working Class in post-2000 Zimbabwe: a literature
12review – Lloyd Sachikonye and Brian Raftopoulos
Chapter 3
State Politics, Constructions of Labour and Labour Struggles 1980-2000
– Brian Raftopoulos 46
Chapter 4
Economic Crisis, Structural Change and the Devaluation of Labour
– Godfrey Kanyenze 75
Chapter 5
Labour, State and Crises in the post-2000 era – Lloyd Sachikonye 124
Chapter 6
Brian Raftopoulos,
Godfrey Kanyenze and Lloyd Sachikonye 145
Chapter 7
New Forms of Work Organization and Employment Patterns
– Lloyd Sachikonye, Godfrey Kanyenze and Brian Raftopoulos 163
Chapter 8
Gender, Youths and Disability in the Changing Industrial Landscape
– Naome Chakanya 185
Chapter 9
Political, Judicial and Legislative Responses to Labour and the
215 Changing Regime of Industrial Relations – Zakeyo Mtimtema
Chapter 10
245Conclusion: Brian Raftopoulos, Lloyd Sachikonye and Godfrey Kanyenze
Bibliography 249
ixContributors
Lloyd Sachikonye is based at the Centre for Applied Social Sciences (CASS) at
the University of Zimbabwe. He has published widely on Zimbabwean
politics, social movements and labour issues.
Brian Raftopoulos is the Director of Research and Planning for Solidarity
Peace Trust/Ukuthula Trust and Research Fellow in the International Studies
Group, University of the Free State. He has published widely on Zimbabwean
history, politics and labour issues.
Godfrey Kanyenze is the Director of the Labour and Economic Development
Research Institute of Zimbabwe (LEDRIZ). He has published widely on
economic policies and labour market issues in Zimbabwe.
Naome Chakanya is a Development Economist and Senior Researcher at
the Labour and Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe
(LEDRIZ). Her areas of expertise include Gender, Socio-economic rights,
Decent Work Agenda, Climate Change and Green Jobs.
Zakeyo Mtimtema is the Legal Advisor of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions (ZCTU). He is a member of the Labour Advisory Council, the
Retrenchment Board and the Midlands State University Council.
viiForeword
In the words of Marcus Garvey: ‘A people without the knowledge of their
past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots’. The history
of the labour movement in Zimbabwe has been documented in two
pathbreaking books, Keep on Knocking (1890-1980) and Striking Back
(19802000). Cognisant of the wrenching structural changes, and the political,
social and economic crises the country has undergone, the general council of
the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions made the decision to update this
historiography for the period since 2000.
The 1990s had witnessed a resurgent labour movement mobilising beyond
the traditional bread and butter issues. The movement took up wider struggles
for democratisation and inclusive governance on the back of a vicious structural
adjustment programme that had resulted in deindustrialisation, job losses and
the informalisation of the economy on an unprecedented scale. Riled by the
emergence of an oppositional civil society movement and a strong opposition
party that for the first time threatened its very existence, the ZANU(PF)
regime responded with ruthless repression and the implementation of populist
policies. This was designed to peg back the emerging social movement under
the leadership of strong trade unions.
If the 1990s were challenging, higher levels of state repression and economic
mismanagement marked the new millennium. Unsurprisingly, the labour
movement and its allies became the prime targets of state-sponsored violence,
intimidation and repression. International condemnation of the flagrant abuse
of human and trade union rights and tenets of good governance resulted in the
country being isolated. Undeterred, the state continued on its warpath, driven
by imperatives of self-preservation and retained hegemony.
The update of the history of the labour movement contained in this book
is therefore of particular significance to all those interested in unravelling the
complex forces at play and the rapidly unfolding developments in Zimbabwe
in the new millennium. The book captures the political, economic and social
upheavals that created paralysis at all levels of the polity and society. The
period under review coincides with the rapidly changing economic structure,
and the emergence of new forms and patterns of employment characterised
by vulnerability and precarity. It not only documents what has happened since
2000, but also painstakingly analyses the impact of the various forces at play
that resulted in a state of stasis and paralysis, as well as polarisation. No country
outside of a war situation has ever experienced such levels of political, social and
economic crises, structural regression and persistent devaluation of labour.
ixThis publication is a collaboration between the ZCTU and the
FriedrichEbert-Stiftung, supported by long-time friends of labour, Lloyd Sachikonye,
Brian Raftopoulos and Godfrey Kanyenze, our long-standing publishers,
Weaver Press, and our research institute, LEDRIZ.
We hope this book will help interested parties unravel developments during
a dark period of our post-independence history, revealing the underlying logic
of state capture and repression that left labour in a parlous state. It is the
very contradictions of the repressive system that eventually led to successionist
faction fights that would culminate in a military intervention that deposed the
long-serving President Robert Mugabe in November 2017.
Peter Gift Mutasa
ZCTU President
xPreface
This book, Building from the Rubble: The Labour Movement in Zimbabwe
since 2000, is the third in a trilogy about the history of the labour movement
in Zimbabwe. The series started in 1997 with Keep on Knocking, which
covered the period between 1900 and 1997. It was followed by Striking Back,
which provided an overview of the labour movement in Zimbabwe after
independence until 2000.
Building from the Rubble continues the history of the labour movement
from 2000. The new millennium saw a deepening economic crisis in
Zimbabwe, exacerbated by political authoritarianism and neoliberalism. As a
result, the labour movement had to fight on three fronts: politically against the
authoritarian regime of Robert Mugabe; economically against the outflows and
consequences of a declining, and pulverised economy which brought factory
and business closures, unemployment and a massive growth in the informal
sector; and against the use of informal work practices which increased the
burden on the workers. Whilst these challenges stretched the organisational
and political capacity of the labour movement, they simultaneously showed
its resilience, and its ability to stick to its values and defend the rights of the
working people.
This book describes the struggle of the labour movement, its grit and
determination in the face of extreme adversity. FES is proud to be part of
the journey of the unions and the labour movement in Zimbabwe. It is with
great pride that FES presents this product of the longstanding cooperation
between ZCTU and FES. We would also like to thank the authors who have
contributed to this book for devoting their time and efforts and for sharing
their knowledge.
To all who want to have a better understanding of the last 18 years in
Zimbabwe, I highly recommend this book, Building from the Rubble.
Ulrich Golaszinski
Director
Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung
Harare
xi