The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has mobilized international support for the workers of Zimbabwe who continue to bear the brunt of a free-falling economy, neoliberal policies, and a battered local currency.
In its solidarity message today, the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition (CiZC) said it appreciates the support of trade unions from across the globe who continue to stand in solidarity with Zimbabwean workers.
The Coalition noted with concern the lack of sincerity on the part of the Zimbabwean government in addressing the welfare of its workers who continue to live far below the Poverty Datum Line (PDL) in a highly inflationary environment.
“To add on to its insincerity and intransigence, the Zimbabwean government has criminalised trade unionism and often responds with threats and brute force to genuine concerns from workers who are earning far below living wages.
“Trade union leaders have often been labelled as terrorists and in some instances, some have been forced into hiding while others have had to endure lengthy periods in detention for demanding living wages. The use of force by the government has also led to some trade union leaders living in fear of losing their lives,” CiZC said.
The Communist Party of Britain sent a solidarity message to Zimbabwe’s Global Solidarity Day.
“We write in support of your demands that the achievements of Zimbabwe’s national liberation struggle be protected, that your people are able to keep their rightful occupation of the land of zimbabwe, that those providing social services in health and education are paid a wage that meets their needs and that all be provided with the dignity of work,” the Communist Party of Britain said.
The German Communist Party declared its solidarity with the comrades of the Zimbabwe Communist Party and all people in Zimbabwe active on Zimbabwe Global Solidarity Day and in the defence of the rights of the working people of Zimbabwe.
“We support your demands for an end of corruption, against violence, against compensations to former white Farmers, for wages on which working people can live, for the restoration of the health and education systems, as well as the demand for an end to all sanctions against Zimbabwe, to which the EU has made a significant contribution alongside the US,” Renate Koppe, the International Secretary of the German Communist Party said in a joint statement with Georges Hallermayer, Member of the International Commission.
The Communist Party of Turkey saluted the resistance of Zimbabwean workers against poverty, corruption, various levels of oppression and police brutality and demanded better living for all under humane and egalitarian conditions.
The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) expressed its solidarity with the struggle for decent wages for the workers and the people of Zimbabwe, for the modern rights to health-care and education.
The Communist Party of Chile said it prays for Zimbabweans to find ways to overcome the discrimination and injustice imposed by imperialism aggressiveness against the sovereign right of self-determination of the people of Zimbabwe.
The Workers’ Party of Belgium (PTB-PVDA) wishes Zimbabweans success in the struggle against unemployment, low wages and mass evictions in the rural areas as white farmers return to retake the land they lost since the land reform.