ZIMBABWE: WORKERS BATTLE FOR WAGE INCREASE

WAGE negotiations between the
General Agricultural and
Plantation Workers Union
Zimbabwe and employers have
broken down with the deadlock
being referred for arbitration.
The union's information officer
Ndaizivei Kamoto said they had
demanded a wage increase from
US$70 to between US$170 and
US$180 during negotiations held
in June for the horticultural and
agro sector respectively, but
employers said they are only
prepared to increase the wage to
US$75.
"We have been holding
negotiations for the agro and
horticulture sector since June but
have failed to agree," Kamoto
said. "We have referred it for
arbitration. But the longer the
arbitration takes the more the
workers will suffer."
She said the employers argued
that they could not afford to pay
the wages by unions as they
were struggling to make a profit
on their produce.
Kamoto said although they had
won the arbitration case for
workers in the timber sector to
be awarded a wage minimum of
US$150 up from US$90, many
employers had applied for
exemption citing inability to pay
the stipulated minimum.
She revealed that since the
beginning of farm invasions in
2000 where land was
redistributed to address what
the Zanu PF government called
land imbalances, a plethora of
problems have plagued
farmworkers.
She said farmworkers were living
in squalid conditions as some of
the new farmers did not have
accommodation facilities for
workers.
Some farmworkers are now
staying in tobacco barns in
farming areas in Marondera and
Chegutu.
Kamoto said workers are also
being forced to walk long
distances, some as far as 20kms
in search of clean water as water
pumps and other equipment
used to pump water had been
destroyed during the farm
invasions. She added that those
who are unable to travel long
distances for water have
resorted to taking water from
rivers posing a great risk to their
health.
The union's membership as a
result, she said, had dwindled
from over half a million in 2000
to just 20 000 currently. This, she
added, was further reduced to
15 000 during the off season.
Kamoto said her organisation's
efforts to assist their members
are facing hostility from farm
owners particularly in
Mashonaland East and West.