Tanyanyiwa, Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions Women’s Advisory Council secretary and a national executive member of the Commercial Workers Union of Zimbabwe, has been at the forefront of championing workers’ rights since 1998 when she joined Railmed, the medical fund for the National Railways of Zimbabwe as a secretary.
She now spends endless hours in her office assisting members of her union whose rights have been violated at work places.
“A lot of workers have been affected by the closure of companies in Bulawayo. The situation is dire as more and more companies continue to retrench. In most cases workers are just retrenched without getting anything, while others work without being paid,” said the 43-year-old trade unionist.
She has undergone various training courses both locally and abroad in shop stewardship, trade agreements, leadership, paralegal and finance administration.
“This training had assisted me to excel in mainstream trade unionism, which in Zimbabwe unfortunately tends to place women on the periphery,” she said. Tanyanyiwa lamented the social institutionalization of patriarchy – pointing out that there was a lot of resistance from men to the advancement of women. She said this was conscious and sub-conscious.
“I urge all women to challenge men in whatever profession – even in politics. We want 50-50 with men in whatever we are doing,” she added.
Tanyanyiwa, who is also the Bulawayo provincial secretary for Economic Empowerment in the MDC–T, said she has ventured into fulltime politics and is keen to stand for the Nketa parliamentary seat.
“I have already submitted my papers to the party. My major objective if I am elected is to campaign against the marginalization of women. We need to bring down the chauvinistic edifice embedded in our paternalistic culture,” she said. She will also fight for availability of affordable sanitary ware for women especially those who live in rural areas.
Tanyanyiwa was elected a member of the ZCTU general council in 2009. She was co-opted as vice secretary for the ZCTU Women’s Advisory Council in 2010, elected vice secretary of WAC in July 2011 and subsequently elected to secretary of WAC September 2011.
Post published in: News