Delivering a solidarity message at the MDC’s National Policy Conference, ZCTU Secretary General, Japhet Moyo, said the labour movement had been disappointed by some of the policies that had been pursued by some of the party’s ministers.
“We have been disappointed by some of our colleagues who have propagated policies that are anti-labour,” Moyo said singling out Finance Minister Tendai Biti and Energy Minister Elton Mangoma for criticism.
“How do you defend a minister who says he will not sign a collective bargaining agreement? I am talking about the Energy Minister here.
“How do you defend a minister who talks of labour market flexibility which allows employers to fire people willy-nilly,” he said.
He told Biti that he was disappointing the electorate.
“Mind your language, you are not yet in power. It is the poor who vote, not investors. If you call yourself social democrats let that be reflected in the policies,” he said.
Moyo however said that the MDC remains a ZCTU project.
“Our view is that the MDC is our project. We might differ but we were at the forefront of the project. We will not apologise for that and that view has not changed. The formation of the party was the decision of the ZCTU Extraordinary Congress in 1999,” he said.
He said there were some “extremist elements” within the labour body who want to review that position but the “position was that only when the MDC gets into power would there be an evaluation”.
Meanwhile the MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai has said his party is ready to assume power and govern.
“What you have heard today is an evaluation because they know that this party can correct its past mistakes and represent your aspirations. In the unity government we have had limited opportunity to showcase what the MDC is about.
“It is not right to just fight for workers’ rights. You cannot ask for rights without responsibility. People must also remember that this is a coalition government. It is a shared compromise,” he said.
“We have had to deal with policy discord in the unity government. Some have been running parallel programmes within the government,” he said.
Tsvangirai also castigated the use of hate language in the media.
“It is not about who is able to control the media and fill it with hate speech and derogatory language. That kind of media has no future in a democratic Zimbabwe,” he said.
He said under his party’s government, national policies would be realigned to the policies of the global economy.
“Zanu (PF) seeks to share existing wealth and not help other create new wealth and that is retrogressive,” Tsvangirai said. “This conference offers a programme policy platform for this country. We are sending a clear and loud message that we are ready to govern to Zimbabweans,” Tsvangirai said.
The MDC is running its policy conference under the theme, “Towards real transformation” and the party’s National Chairman, Lovemore Moyo, said by the end of 2013, Zimbabwe would find itself under a new and secure dispensation.
“We want to give the people of Zimbabwe a chance to live a fulfilled life,” Moyo said.
Post published in: News