A planned two-day strike by the Zimbabwe Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions (ZCPSTU) failed as most of the government employees feared victimisation and intimidation.
The strike which was scheduled for the 27th and 28th of July was due to the government’s failure to meet their employees’ demands.
Part of the demands included an immediate restoration of the value of wages to pre-October 2018 levels, to be paid in United State dollars and not in local currency.
In a statement released by ZCPSTU on Friday, most civil servants failed to engage in the strike due to various reasons.
Reads part of the statement “Most members expressed fear of victimization by their superiors, in various ministries. Many indicated that they were docked part of their salaries pursuant to the incapacitation declared by education sector unions in February 2022.
This instilled fear to some civil servants, with the result that some, despite the obvious incapacitation, still failed to exercise their constitutional rights to collective job action.”
Civil servants were also afraid they might be excluded from national programs.
“Members who took part in the same incapacitation exercise were excluded from the 2022 Census and ZEC exercises. This reduced the number of participants in the exercise as some still hope to be included in future national programs purely for financial reasons,” reads the statement.
According to ZCPSTU other members were intimidated and threatened
“Social media was awash with insinuations that those who would participate in the industrial action are anti-government and this really intimidated members, especially those in political hotbeds away from the urban areas.”
Despite the foiled strike, the organization thanked its members who took action and vowed to engage in a much bigger one come September.
“Union leaders would like to applaud all the members who heeded the call to action given the short notice. If the government does not take action as called upon a massive industrial action is imminent, come September.”
