Trade union leaders in Zimbabwe are going ahead with a two-day national strike today and tomorrow. They are taking the action despite the fact that the government has declared it illegal. The labour movement called the strike after President Robert Mugabe's government refused to reverse a huge increase in fuel prices.
The government has promised to protect workers who ignore the call by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, which has 1.2 million members. In a joint statement, the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries and the Employers Confederation of Zimbabwe said that the strike would further hurt the country's struggling economy. The statement also said the ZCTU must talk to the government ahead of the strike.
Police set up roadblocks around the capital, Harare, last night. Police in Zimbabwe's second city, Bulawayo said that they were ready to deal with violence. "We have enough officers on standby to deal with any eventuality that might necessitate police action," a spokesman told reporters.
Mr Mugabe's government deployed police and reserve army units to quell food riots that gripped Harare's poor townships for three days last year in protest against rocketing prices. However, union leaders said that the labour movement was determined to have a peaceful protest, and they urged members to stay off the streets to avoid trouble. The ZCTU had given the government 14 days to scrap the fuel price increases, which the state oil company blamed on higher import costs.
Political tensions have barely abated since early last year when political violence before parliamentary elections in June claimed at least 31 lives, most of them opposition supporters.
