US embassy cable - 02HARARE1183

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 001183 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AFIS AND DRL/IL, NSC FOR SENIOR AF DIRECTOR 
FRAZER, LONDON FOR CGURNEY, PARIS FOR CNEARY, NAIROBI FOR 
PFLAUMER, BRUSSELS FOR USEU:WAGNER, GENEVA FOR HAGEN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/15/2012 
TAGS: ELAB, PGOV, PHUM, PREL, ZI 
SUBJECT: ZCTU'S BATTLE FOR SURVIVAL AT THE UPCOMING ILO 
CONFERENCE 
 
Classified By: Classified by KRBel for reasons 1.5 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (C) This is an action request -- see paragraph 6. 
 
2. (C) Summary.  LABOFF met May 15 with Wellington Chibebe of 
the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU).  Chibebe 
expressed concern that the GOZ would use the upcoming ILO 
conference in Geneva as another forum in which to attack the 
legitimacy of his organization.  Chibebe requested assistance 
to enable him to attend the conference along with ZCTU 
President Lovemore Matombo (Matombo's travel costs have 
already been covered).  Additionally, Chibebe requested our 
assistance in mobilizing support for ZCTU's official delegate 
status should the GOZ attempt to appoint as the "official" 
Zimbabwean labor delegate another labor organization it 
created to counter the ZCTU's broad influence.  End summary. 
 
3. (C)  In the course of a meeting with Laboff, Wellington 
Chibebe, Secretary General of the ZCTU, stated that he has 
been informed that both ZCTU and the GOZ-sponsored Zimbabwe 
Federation of Trade Unions (ZFTU) would be allowed by the GOZ 
to travel to Geneva for the upcoming ILO congress. The ZFTU 
is a shell organization created by ZANU-PF/GOZ as a more 
controllable counterpart to the legitimate ZCTU.  The ZFTU 
has used strong-arm tactics against employers to convince 
workers to join up, but thus far the only group with 
widescale membership in the ZFTU is the sugar plantation 
workers.  Within that industry, the GOZ has reportedly 
pressured the employers while the ZFTU has coerced the 
workers, with the result being a mass shift of workers' 
allegiance (as well as their membership dues) from the 
ZCTU-affiliated sugar workers' union to the ZFTU. While the 
true size of the organization as well as its leadership is 
unclear, "war vet" Joseph Chinotimba, self-proclaimed 
commander of the farm invasions and ZANU-PF's chief worker 
bee and enforcer, is the ZFTU's vice president. 
 
4. (C) The GOZ has not yet indicated which organization will 
receive government appointment as the official Zimbabwean 
delegation, and Chibebe believes that the GOZ may postpone 
announcing its intentions until the last possible minute. 
Chibebe's concern is that the GOZ may well appoint the ZFTU 
as the official delegation while relegating the ZCTU to an 
"advisory" role.  If this happens, the ZCTU will dispute the 
appointment and the matter will go to the ILO Accreditation 
Committee, which is chaired by Benin.  Chibebe is concerned 
that politics may win the day and that ZFTU may prevail in an 
accreditation fight.  Late reports on May 17 indicate that 
the GOZ intends to invite both ZCTU and ZFTU to the Geneva 
meeting as if they had equal status. 
 
5. (C) Post is already investigating possible means of 
sponsoring Chibebe to attend the conference along with ZCTU 
president Lovemore Matombo, whose attendance has already been 
funded by other sponsors.  However, ZCTU is under severe 
financial pressure and does not have the money to send 
Chibebe outright.  Chibebe can offer vital assistance by 
lobbying for support for the ZCTU among the other delegates, 
in the event that such a showdown develops.  Further, even if 
such a struggle does not develop, Chibebe's attendance will 
enhance his international profile and confirm the USG's 
support for the ZCTU. 
 
6. (C) Action requested:  Post recommends that Solidarity 
Center be contacted to sponsor Chibebe's travel to the ILO 
meeting.  Post also recommends that the Department and/or DOL 
approach other international labor groupings and delegates to 
solicit their support that the ZCTU be recognized as 
Zimbabwe's official delegation.  In addition to weighing in 
with the ICFTU, it will be important to address our concerns 
to other national and regional labor organizations.  As 
Chibebe noted, Mugabe is willing to play the "race card" 
without compunction, and pressure from a western labor group 
alone could play into Mugabe's "African unity" rhetoric. 
Other groups which could be approached include WCL, SATUCC, 
ICFTU-Afro, OAUTU (Organization of African Unity Trade 
Unions), and COSATU (Congress of South African Trade Unions). 
 
7. (C) Suggested talking points: 
 
-- We understand the GOZ may be planning to accredit the 
ZFTU, an organization created by and controlled by the 
Zimbabwean government and  ZANU-PF, at the upcoming 
International Labor Congress.  This would relegate the ZCTU, 
the ILO-accredited representative of Zimbabwean labor, an 
affiliate of the ICFTU and the legitimate representative of 
the vast majority of Zimbabwean workers, to an "advisory" 
role. 
 
-- Such an outcome would be a violation of the principles of 
democratically free trade unionism which the ILO supports. 
 
-- Such an action would also indicate the desire of the 
Zimbabwean government to bring the Zimbabwean labor movement 
under government/party control and to impose political 
retribution on the ZCTU and its members for allegedly 
opposing Mugabe and Zanu-PF in the recent flawed presidential 
elections. 
 
-- The USG supports the ZCTU's effort to retain its 
legitimate seat in the International Labor Congress and to 
reject efforts to designate a government-puppet labor 
organization as a labor federation with full ILO recognition. 
 
 
-- We urge the ICFTU (or insert appropriate other 
organization) to back official accreditation of the ZCTU in 
the ILO as well and to urge its affiliates to stand behind 
the ZCTU as the legitimate representation of organized labor 
in Zimbabwe. 
 
End suggested points. 
SULLIVAN