This year, the Workers Day celebrations were held under the theme “Workers Under Siege, Organise, Unite and Fight On”.
Judging from the poor crowd, one will be left wondering whether the workers will indeed be able to fight on as highlighted by their theme with interest seemingly fading away from the event which in previous years used to be a platform for strategising.
The event saw senior MDC-T members such as Tendai Biti, Thokozani Khupe, Nelson Chamisa Douglas Mwonzora in attendance sa well as the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Paurina Mpariwa among others.
Zanu (PF) snubbed the event which was attended by civic society organisations as well as student unions.
The low attendance at Gwanzura Stadium today is in direct contrast to previous years when the stadium would be filled to capacity as workers from various sectors would come in their numbers.
Today, less than 2 000 people were in attendance at the 10 000 seater stadium. Of the four sections of the terraces that surround the stadium only one was packed with attendants.
The other section of the terraces was half filled while the other two were virtually empty in a development that could be a reflection of the fact that workers have lost hope in the Workers Day celebrations following years of vain attempts to fight for better salaries and working conditions.
Judging from the attendance as well as the mood among the workers, one could tell that the May Day celebrations have lost their punch as in previous years. Today, the event was only livened up by introductions of senior MDC-T members which drew loud cheers from the crowd as well as the performance by musician Leonard Zhakata.
Other than that, there was very little for the workers to celebrate with most of the addresses being about concerns and plans that many doubt will be able to come to fruition given the fact that for a couple of years, workers have been making noise with nothing being done.
“For me, there is not much that we can celebrate on this day because for several years, our concerns such as poor working conditions and low salaries have not been addressed so we cannot really say we are celebrating,” said one Tapiwa Munetsi (41) from Highfield.
Another interviewee Miriam Banda said: “The event has changed from previous years and to me this is an indication that frustration is growing high among workers and confidence is fading away.”
Deputy Prime Minister, Thokozani Khupe attributed the low turnout to the high unemployment rate currently prevailing in Zimbabwe which is estimated at around 80 percent.
“That is why we no longer have huge numbers coming for this event because there is high unemployment in the country,” said Khupe.
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions President, George Nkiwane admitted frustration was high among workers as evidence by the poor turnout and blamed government for lacking the political will to address the concerns of workers in Zimbabwe.
“There is too much talk on better salaries for workers with little if anything being addressed to achieve that and as a result, workers are getting frustrated,” said Nkiwane.
The acting President of the Zimbabwe Chamber of Informal Economy Association, Lucia Masukusa said today’s Workers Day celebrations are typical of a patient celebrating a birthday in hospital.
“You cannot avoid to celebrate your birthday even when you are in hospital. Things are not so good for the workers of Zimbabwe and we are just celebrating because May 1 is a day that was set aside for the workers and you cannot avoid it,” said Masukusa.
In a show that workers in Zimbabwe seem to have given up hope of better salaries and working conditions under the current regime, there was consensus that the forthcoming elections were critical in unlocking their multitude of challenges.
The Director of the Youth Initiative for Democracy in Zimbabwe, Sydney Chisi said: “I think the forthcoming elections will give an opportunity for the workers to get what they have all along been crying for in the event that a new government that is responsive of their needs is elected into power.”
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition Director, Macdonald Lewanika in his address said workers should take advantage of the impending polls to vote for a government that will be able to address their concerns.
Post published in: News