MDC PRESS
16 June 2003
Move to Ban Strikes in Public Sector Is A Clear Sign Of Weakness
Moves by the illegitimate Mugabe regime to ban huge swathes of public sector workers from engaging in strike action underlines once again the success of the recent 2-6 June stayaway, which marked a significant step forward in the peaceful struggle to restore democratic legitimacy to Zimbabwe. The scale of the Mugabe regime's violent and repressive response to the stayway is a testament to the impact that the stayway has had. The regime has clearly been weakened by its realisation that it has no popular support.
The arrest and detention of MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai on another spurious treason charge, and the arrest of over 800 MDC supporters for engaging in peaceful acts of protest, offers a clear insight into the increasing level of nervousness that is now permeating a regime conscious that its time is running out. Banning core public sector workers from engaging in strike action is yet another example of this nervousness. This desperate, and flagrantly undemocratic move, is doomed to failure.
If the regime believes that banning people from exercising their basic democratic rights will deter future stay always it should think again. Such moves simply serve to highlight the size of the chasm between the regime and the people. Violence and repression do not weaken people's desire for democratic change. Violence and repression do not address an individual's social and economic grievances.
The hundreds of thousands of workers, both private and public sector, who heeded the call to stay away from work between 2-6 June did so because the regime has failed them. Job security is a luxury, food is either scarce or unaffordable, whilst the acute petrol shortage means that travelling to work is either impossible or exceptionally arduous. For those in the public sector, working conditions have, in many places, reached unacceptable levels due to the policy failures of the Mugabe regime.
Against such a background of discontent no amount of violence or repression is going to be sufficient to cow people into submission. Instead it will strengthen the people's desire to intensify peaceful acts of civil disobedience aimed at securing democratic change.
Paul Themba Nyathi
MDC Secretary for Information and Publicity
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