ZCTU calls for general strike

rike call and warned that security agencies would ruthlessly deal with any campaign of anarchy and lawlessness. The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), which enjoys the support of most of the country’s 1.2 million labourers, said a nationwide strike would begin early August. It did not give specific dates, saying these would be announced in due course.
“We are fighting for the worker to earn a living wage, workers are tired of being sacrificial lambs and bearing the brunt of bad governance, bad economic policies and ill thought political projects,”‘ ZCTU Secretary-General Wellington Chibebe said.
“If these (issues) are addressed, we will call off the strike,” he said after an emergency meeting of the ZCTU council. The umbrella group represents trade unions in agriculture, manufacturing, mining and the public sector.
State security minister Didymus Mutasa condemned the strike call, saying unions were being used by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), western handlers and industrialists pushing for regime change. But Chibebe said workers were earning on average Z$1 million each month at a time the poverty datum line had raced to $7 million. – Chief reporter