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This is "no longer business as
usual," declares Peter Mutasa, president of the Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU). "Unions are going to be
united."
According to Mutasa, the situation
in the country is dire, with basic salaries at or near the poverty
line and workers unable to meet basic expenses. The COVID-19
shutdowns and related economic dislocations have reduced incomes for
more than half of all urban workers. According to labor
representatives, the government’s response has been to collude
with business to stifle workers’ rights.
Responding to the crisis,
representatives of all Zimbabwe’s major worker organizations
met last month to discuss falling working conditions and wages,
vowing to use their collective voice to work towards decent work and
decent lives. The organizations included the ZCTU and the Zimbabwe
Federation of Trade Unions, which is perceived as pro-government, and
the Apex Council, the body that represents all government workers.
During an April 22 meeting of
government, business, and labor — the Tripartite Negotiation
Forum — labor leaders walked out in protest against the
government’s unwillingness to prioritize critical worker
issues. Forty-one years after Zimbabwe’s April 18, 1980,
Independence Day, “working people and peasants are paying the
price of the country’s economic crisis,” and “former
liberators have turned against the people,” Mutasa says.
This week, workers in more than 66
countries celebrate International Workers Day or May Day. However,
workers in Zimbabwe have little to celebrate and instead will
commemorate the day by bringing together workers to fight for
political and economic justice.
Rethinking U.S. Sanctions on
Zimbabwe
Here in the U.S., we have an
opportunity to support those efforts by using our collective power to
press the Biden administration for a fundamental rethink of
U.S.-Africa policy generally and Zimbabwe policy specifically.
Biden
recently nominated Mary Catherine Phee to be assistant secretary of
state for African affairs. Her confirmation period presents a
critical opportunity to urge the administration to fundamentally
reconsider U.S. Africa policy,
including prioritizing collaboration and mutual learning, avoiding
counterproductive military engagements, steering clear of old
strategies that subordinate Africa’s interests, and stopping
the imposition of neoliberal economic models that prioritize
austerity and privatization.
For Zimbabwe, this is the time to
broadly consult with key stakeholders in the country and throughout
the region, to reconsider ineffective strategies, and like the
country’s labor movement, work towards people-centered
solutions for Zimbabwe’s economic crisis.
Many activists in Zimbabwe are
divided regarding the effectiveness and usefulness of the U.S.
sanctions imposed in 2003. However, beyond debate is that nearly 18
years later, it is past time for a systematic evaluation of those
sanctions, along with a new assessment of foreign assistance
priorities and mechanisms.
The sanctions target government
representatives and others that undermine Zimbabwe’s democratic
institutions. Yet the country’s democratic institutions and
rights are also hampered by illegal and unethical corporate financial
tactics, also known as Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) that siphon
economic resources from the country.
Lightening Zimbabwe’s Debt
Burden
Current sanctions do little to
address the structures and systems that work with individuals to loot
Zimbabwe.
Where are the financial
repercussions for mining companies in Zimbabwe that siphon away money
to tax havens, avoid tax payments, including companies that
reportedly dodged paying basic payroll taxes? How does current U.S.
policy help regional organizations update outdated tax structures,
update licensing and monitoring systems to track better the outward
flows of financial and commodity resources, and promote transparency
and accountability?
Also,
with nearly
half the country living in extreme poverty,
it is past time to audit and cancel Zimbabwe’s external debt.
An audit will help disaggregate and
clarify the nature of the debt, which includes budget and trade
deficits, compensation to white commercial farmers displaced by a
2000 land reform program, as well as loan repayment arrears. In
addition, the country is still on the hook for inherited Rhodesian
debts and an indefinite amount of debt to Chinese lenders.
Even if the government was committed
to the kind of "macroeconomic policies and structural reforms"
required by the International Monetary Fund, the state would spend
most of its resources servicing the debts instead of addressing
unemployment, poverty, and unmet social needs.
While Zimbabwe’s workers and
their families continue fighting for economic and social justice, we
can help level the playing field by using our voices to call for a
fundamental rethink of U.S. policy on Zimbabwe.
This commentary was originally
published by
Foreign Policy in Focus (FPIF)
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