May Day must serve workers H-METRO

ON Saturday, May 1, the country commemorated May Day.

Also known as International Workers’ Day, the day is a celebration of workers and labour movements. May 1 is a national holiday in more than 80 countries - and Zimbabwe is included in that long list.

This year - for the second time in a row - the day came as the country, and the world, is grappling with the effects of the Covid-19 that has affected everything, from industry to freedom of movement to family relations.

Unfortunately, other countries do not really cherish the day like we do in Zimbabwe and they only recognise it unofficially, the way fathers’ day is commemorated in Zimbabwe.

There was a time when the day meant a lot in Zimbabwe, when workers were not just celebrated but also had their issues and concerns heard and addressed. May Day was a day that brought hope to the workers of Zimbabwe but today we are singing a different tune.

We need to see to it that workers are not taken advantage of. Workers still have rights even when organisations are not operating at 100 percent, even when everyone is fighting the effects of Covid-19.

Now more than ever, workers need their representative bodies but sadly, the labour movement in Zimbabwe has lost its purpose and there is no one within the workers’ leaderships that looks like they have the workers’ interests at heart.

Workers are being abused and tokenised by so called trade unionists, who clearly have other agendas.

At independence in 1980, the movement had as its base a formal sector working class of around 1,2 million, which grew to 1,5 million in 1999.

Labour experts say this constituted approximately 10 percent and later 12 percent of the total population but the figure has since gone below the 10 percent mark as workers have since forgotten what it means to be members of a labour movement.

May Day should be a platform for workers across the country to raise their concerns but now it is a mere ladder for people with other intentions to trample workers for personal pursuits.

It has been an important official holiday in Zimbabwe that gives workers an important platform to press for improved working conditions and more importantly matters related to wages.

Today’s worker does not know who to tell when their concerns are not heard or when their rights are being trampled on.

We should see less fights for personal gain, less bickering about which workers union is legitimate and which is not.

We should see people who have the welfare of workers at heart and will never seek their own interests, that have nothing to do with workers, leading the labour movements.

That is what a workers union should be about - serving the interests of the worker.