Story by Tendai Munengwa
AS Zimbabwean workers commemorated May Day this Thursday, improving employee welfare emerged as the central focus, with the government receiving praise for its willingness to engage workers and address their concerns through dialogue.
In the capital, Harare, the Zimbabwe Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions (ZCPSTU), in partnership with the Public Service Commission, hosted the commemorations. The event drew representatives from various progressive workers’ associations across sectors.
“We are happy with the government’s move to afford us opportunities to dialogue on our welfare. We are managing to present our concerns and while some are taking time to be resolved, the government is not paying a deaf ear to the workers,” Zimbabwe Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions president, Cecilia Alexander said.
“The issue of remuneration of our teachers is the biggest challenge but we continue to urge government to come to the table as our challenges can only be resolved through dialogue,” PTUZ Secretary General, Raymond Majongwa said.
“We have most of the presentation being listened to. We want to thank the government for availing incentives that will enable teachers to keep going,” ZIMTA CEO, Sifiso Ndlovu notes.
“The hospital and health sectors as a whole is being overwhelmed, we are happy that the government is recruiting and trying more nurses but the gap is big so we call for mass recruitment and training so that we fill the gap,” Nurses Associations representative, Maxwell Muchato said.
Speaking after touring exhibition stands at the commemorations, the Deputy Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Honourable Mercy Dinha praised workers’ resilience and their support for the national development agenda.
“We are happy to commemorate this day, which is a day to share experiences of workers. We are happy that we are celebrating the day at a time when our President, Dr Emmerson Mnangagwa is working tirelessly to address the plight of workers through tangible initiatives like loans and rebate facilities to free transport to work. We want to keep the dialogue with the workers association so that we agree on certain terms,” she said.
Themed, “We Are Creating Partnerships and Alliances”, the May Day celebrations resonated well with the Second Republic’s inclusive development approach.
