US embassy cable - 05HARARE981

C O N F I D E N T I A L  HARARE 000981 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
AF FOR DAS T. WOODS 
AF/S FOR B. NEULING 
OVP FOR NULAND 
NSC FOR DNSA ABRAMS, SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR C. COURVILLE 
USDOC FOR ROBERT TELCHIN 
TREASURY FOR OREN WYCHE-SHAW 
PASS USTR FOR FLORIZELLE LISER 
STATE PASS USAID FOR MARJORIE COPSON 
USDOL FOR ROBERT YOUNG 
USMISSION GENEVA FOR JOHN CHAMBERLAIN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2010 
TAGS: ELAB, ECON, PGOV, ZI, Labor 
SUBJECT: ZCTU CRISIS CONTINUES 
 
REF: A. A. HARARE 617 
 
     B. B. HARARE 671 
     C. C. HARARE 703 
 
Classified By: Charge d' Affaires a.i. under Section 1.4 b/d 
 
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Summary 
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1. (C) Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, (ZCTU) Information 
Officer Mlamleli Sibanda told PolOff on July 15 that two 
separate ZCTU meetings were disrupted within the past week by 
&trouble-maker8 unions (Ref A and B).  In one meeting, four 
women were beaten up badly by several men.    Sibanda added 
that the Commercial Workers Union of Zimbabwe,s leadership 
battle is stuck in court, leaving the ZCTU without the full 
engagement of its largest affiliate.  End Summary. 
 
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ZCTU In-Fighting Continues 
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2. (C) According to Sibanda, two separate meetings were 
disrupted within the past week by the &trouble-maker8 
unions, which were now calling themselves the Aggrieved 
Affiliates Worker,s Union (AAWU).  On July 9, a ZCTU 
Women,s Advisory Council meeting was disrupted when 20 men 
barged in and assaulted those in attendance - mostly women. 
Four women were beaten up badly, including the Women,s 
Advisory Council,s Chairperson Phoebe Vhareta and Secretary 
Tabitha Khumalo.  On July 13, two men tried to scuttle a 
Pensions Workshop by starting minor scuffles.  However, the 
police were called and took custody of the two men and the 
meeting continued. 
 
3. (C) Sibanda told PolOff that these incidents were 
spearheaded by the AAWU, which had failed to change the ZCTU 
leadership in May (Ref B).  Although the AAWU included the 
Zimbabwe Leather Shoes and Allied Workers Union, the 
Transport and General Workers Union, and the Zimbabwe 
Construction and Allied Workers Union, Sibanda asserted that 
only the leadership and a small minority of each union 
actually supported the effort.  He categorically dismissed 
the AAWU,s assertion that it represented 19 ZCTU affiliates, 
stating that such a number would represent a majority of the 
ZCTU General Council and be enough to make whatever changes 
they wanted. 
 
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Commercial Workers Union Still Paralyzed 
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4. (C) Sibanda said the Commercial Workers Union of Zimbabwe 
(CWOZ) remained paralyzed, as it had been since a group 
claiming to be members held an impromptu meeting in May to 
change the union,s leadership (Ref C).  CWOZ President Lucia 
Matibenga and the rest of the unions, leadership had won an 
injunction preventing the rebels from conducting union 
business in June.  However, another judge had subsequently 
ruled July 13 in favor of the rebel union members.  Sibanda 
told PolOff that Matibenga and the CWOZ leadership had 
appealed this latest ruling, but in the interval ZCTU was 
effectively without the full engagement of its largest 
affiliate. 
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Comment 
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5. (C) After failing to change the ZCTU leadership in May, 
the &renegade8 affiliates have re-organized themselves as 
the AAWU and re-doubled their efforts to disrupt and paralyze 
the ZCTU.  The AAWU and the renegade CWOZ group have 
effectively mired the ZCTU in intra- and inter-affiliate 
strife.  For now, a distracted ZCTU will probably continue to 
be largely invisible in Zimbabwean political and social life 
as its membership (and the rest of Zimbabwe) suffer through 
social and economic turmoil. 
SCHULTZ 
 
 
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