Zimbabwean affiliate, Newu and the recently merged Numaiz commemorated the World Day for Decent Work with a clean-up of a public space in Harare on Saturday the 12th of October 2013.
Members of the National Engineering Workers Union (Newu) and the Nation Union of Metalworkers in Zimbabwe (Numaiz), joined in the event organised by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU). Over the years the commemoration of WDDW has been through community service events in residential areas raising awareness of the decent work agenda with the communities.
An official of the ZCTU, Peter Mutasa, addressed those that took part in the event, many of whom were youth, on the need for social partners to address working conditions of precarious workers and ensure wages that allowed them to live above the poverty datum line. He said that decent work is important for achieveing quitable, inclusive and sustainable development and the eradication of poverty.
Mutasa also took the opportunity to condemn police brutality on protesting wives of coal mineworkers in Hwange on 7 October 2013. The women were demanding that their husband’s receive their wages, which have gone unpaid for five months. Police fired tear gas and assaulted the group of about a hundred women and children.