US embassy cable - 02HARARE1093

UNCLAS HARARE 001093 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB, PREL, ZI 
SUBJECT: HARARE MAY DAY CELEBRATIONS: PLATFORMS FOR POLITICS 
 
 
1. (U) Laboff attended the Harare May Day rally of the 
Zimbabwe Conference of Trade Unions (ZCTU), the umbrella 
labor organization which is under attack by the GOZ.  While 
the May Day celebration has traditionally been the forum for 
the ZCTU to address its worker constituency, this year also 
saw a direct challenge in the form of a competing rally by 
the government-sponsored competing organization -- the 
Zimbabwe Federation of Trade Unions (ZFTU).  The ZFTU has 
been deliberately muscling in on the activities of the ZCTU, 
going so far as to force union members to sign forms which 
re-direct their membership and payment of dues from the ZCTU 
to the ZFTU.  This year, the ZFTU deliberately pre-empted -- 
apparently with GOZ support -- the ZCTU's May Day activities 
by pre-booking the majority of venues where the ZCTU's 
celebrations have traditionally been held.  In Harare, for 
instance, the ZCTU's event took place at the smaller Gwanzura 
stadium because of a ZFTU rally, accompanied by a soccer 
match, at Rufaro Stadium. 
 
2. (U) The ZCTU's event included a parade of about 15 member 
unions and speeches by leaders of student unions, teachers' 
unions, and the National Constitutional Assembly as well as 
ZCTU leadership.  The rhetoric consistently emphasized 
cooperation between the various civil organizations and 
resistance to the "illegitimate" election of Mugabe. 
Although socialist Member of Parliament Munyaradzi Gwisai (in 
whose district this event was held), resplendent in a black 
beret and Che Guevara t-shirt, called for mass action against 
Zanu-PF, the speeches were more of a call to resistance, 
rather than a call to arms. 
 
3. (U) Contrary to newspaper reports which optimistically 
claimed ZCTU attendance of 20,000, we estimate the actual 
figure  was more in the range of 5000-7500. There was a 
significant police presence, including riot control forces, 
but the event was peaceful.  At the rival ZFTU rally at 
Rufaro Stadium, attendance was very limited until the start 
of a highly anticipated soccer match, a crowd-draw tactic 
also used by the President at his recent inauguration. 
SULLIVAN