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| East/Subsaharan Africa |
| Zimbabwe Bans Strikes in Basic Services |
| 2003-06-16 |
| HARARE - Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has banned strikes in ``essential services'' following a five-day protest against his 23-year rule. Doctors, nurses, employees of the state power utility, firefighters, transport and communications industry workers will not be allowed to go on strike. Security police definitely have to report. The newspaper said the ban was published in the government's Labor Notice, a bulletin of new laws. Employees of state radio and television also were forbidden to strike. Penalties were not specified, but lawyers claimed Sunday that security laws allow for sentences of up to five years in prison. Wonder if prison guards are considered essential? ``It is a desperate measure which will not change anything because if workers feel that their grievances are not being addressed they will always turn to the streets despite the laws,'' said Collin Gwiyo, deputy secretary general of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions. Mugabe, 79, told a ruling party rally Friday in the western Matabeleland region that he would ``never again'' allow opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to organize ``mass action'' advocating his removal. Harm Morgan and someone else will organize the mass actions. Mugabe responded to the protest by deploying security forces to crush street demonstrations but a concurrent general strike shut down the economy, in its worst crisis since independence with 269 percent inflation, widespread unemployment and the near collapse of commercial agriculture since Mugabe started Brilliant, Bob — the money is worthless, there's no oil or gas, unemployment is 70%, and now you're going to piss off the remaining aid donors. What an organizational genius. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #2 Man, I sure hope Bob and Grace don't get out alive. They deserve everything coming to them |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-06-16 12:39:18 |
| #1 Airborne escape pilots must also report and be on a 24/7 call schedule. Now all they need is someone to pump the avgas for them, if there's any left. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-06-16 11:21:49 |