country-region>
“We are concerned that if the strike goes ahead, it will do untold damage to the economy,” Employers Confederation of Zimbabwe (Emcoz) President Johnson Manyakara said.
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), which claims the support of most of the country’s 1.2 million formal labor force, has been calling for strike action over the past three weeks through national newspaper adverts urging workers to “prepare for national action.”
The call has the backing of the labour-backed opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU), whose remaining mostly-white 600 members have been targeted in the invasions.
“Emcoz believes that timely action by the authorities can still avert the strike,” Manyakara said in a statement.
The ZCTU vowed it would only call off the strike if the government acted to address the plight of workers.
Its newspaper adverts read: “Have you ever slept without a meal? Is half you salary chewed up by tax, do you feel over taxed? Do you find that your earnings are insufficient to cover your basic needs such as school fees for your children and monthly groceries?… Are you dying because you cannot access ARVs? Are you failing to buy sanitary pads and cotton wool?..Do you experience electricity and water cuts for days on end?.. Can you not afford to pay rent for decent accommodation?… If you answer is yes to these questions, it is time to stand up and make you voice heard. Prepare for national action in August.”