By Alois Vinga
THE Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has slammed the government for undue favouritism towards the business community at a time when poverty is negatively affecting workers’ mental health.
Speaking to workers during the belated commemorations of the World Day for Decent Work (WDDW), ZCTU president, Florence Taruvinga blamed the government’s insatiable appetite to protect investors at the expense of decent work standards.
“Government is pushing for the ease of doing business, and in that process, it is compromising on the enforcement and application of decent work standards as means to attract investments. We had cases where safety standards and social dialogue were heavily compromised while trade unions have no access to workers, especially in most Chinese-run mines. The need to satisfy the dictates of these investors has spurred the wave of precarious work,” he said.
According to the International Labor Organization, decent work includes job opportunities that are productive and provide a dignified income, job security and social protection for families, a prosperous future for personal development and social integration, and freedom for people to express their concerns. to organize themselves collectively and to participate in decisions that affect their work.
Taruvinga said civil servants are also at the mercy of a dysfunctional social dialogue that has seriously weakened collective bargaining which has exposed the sector to very low salaries, inadequate sundries and poor working conditions.
She said the decent work country programme has remained under siege due to court judgments and national policies that are marching towards reversing any progress made so far in pursuit of decent work.
“We demand that the government tailor policies to the DWCP if we are to make any meaningful impact and transform the lives of workers through decent work.
“This year, the ITUC WDDW commemorations ran under the theme, Workers Deserve Peace and Democracy. The international theme aptly sums up what Zimbabwean workers really need. While there is no bomb shelling and exchange of gunfire in Zimbabwe, economic distress is undermining the conditions for decent work for workers and democracy” added Taruvinga.
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