MIDLANDS STATE UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF COMMERCE

DEPARTMENT OF BUSSINESS MANAGEMENT

COURSE: INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS BM106

LEVEL: 1.2
LECTURER: MR MASUKUME
QUESTION:
1) Evaluate the factors that influence the incidence of strikes in
Zimbabwe
 Group Members

No. Reg Number Surname First Name

1 R1914055G Chivanga Khumbulani Fungai
2 R176792A Chiyaka Concillia
3 R1916894W Dzvengwe Rutendo
4 R1910969J Gumbu Difficult
5 R1910427G Mapondera Evans
6 R1911485A Mavindidze Sekai
7 R1910051X Mbiriri Martin
8 R1914272Z Mudzimu Hebert Munyaradzi
9 R1914065P Muradzikwa Batsirai
10 R1914637T Mushakavanhu Blessing
11 R1812037M Nhukarume Thelma
12 R1915619M Nyagato Noreen
13 R1916966C Savanhu Masimba Elton
14 R1913522W Sibanda Sazini
15 R1914838J Siudi Emmah
16 R1815621R Nyabonda Tafadzwa Caroline
17 R194274M Marimba Moses
Introduction
According to Keith D. Ewing (1995) a strike is defined as “the cessation of
work by a body of persons employed acting in combination, or a concerted
refusal under a common understanding of any number of persons employed to
continue to work for an employer in consequence of a dispute, done as a means
of compelling their employer or any person or body of persons employed, to
accept or not to accept terms or conditions of or affecting employment.” This
entails that a strike is any type of demonstration done by workers against
employers and it effectively interrupts employees. Strikes arise for a number of
reasons, though principally in response to economic conditions (defined as an
economic strike and meant to improve wages and benefits) or labour practices
(intended to improve work conditions). Strike as Defined by Uzhenyu in his
2016 Journal is a form of labour unrest (industrial action) in which there is work
stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work usually in response
to failure by the employer to address their grievances. It is done to force the
employer to accede to employees demands and can be violent as a result of a
confrontational approach by the employee .According to the (Zimbabwe Labour
Act, Chapter 28) collective job action is defined as industrial action calculated
to persuade or cause party to an employment relationship to accede to a demand
related to employment. Disputes as per the understanding of this paper is any
form of disagreement between two or more parties. (Madhuku 2012) states that
they are two categories of labour disputes which are Dispute of Right and
Dispute of Interest. The dispute of rights are those that arise from the breach of
physical contract and dispute of interests emanates outside the physical
contract .Of the above-mentioned disputes, this paper shall focus on evaluating
the dispute of interest’s which can be termed as factors that influence the
incidence of strikes, since all dispute of right factors are solved through court
and not strikes. Strikes may take place in fourteen days after a written notice
(labour act Chapter 38:104), and the following factors may lead to a strike:

Research and Findings

Wages and Incentive issues: the biggest factor that influence strikes in
Zimbabwe is demands for increase in wages. Wages in Zimbabwe decreased to
231 USD/Month in 2018 from 341 USD/Month in 2017. Zimbabwe's state
workers took to the streets to protest their low salaries and high inflation that are
making it hard for them to survive. The government says it is aware of the
workers' plight, but does not have the funds to raise salaries above the poverty
line. The average government worker gets a salary of about 1,000 bond notes
per month, equal to under $100. Trade unions say workers need about $700 per
month to survive. A civil servant was quoted saying “my salary is now nothing;
you can’t buy three items, even three bottles of 2litres cooking oil with my
salary. So I can’t survive with that because I need rent, I need transport, the
combis (minibuses) cost ZWL$7 one way – to and from ZWL$14”.Workers are
demanding salary increases to cope with triple-digit inflation amid Zimbabwe's
collapsing economy. Doctors also went on strike against low wages. The
striking doctors take home less $100 USD a month, not nearly enough to buy
food and groceries or get to work. For months they have faced shortages of
basics such as bandages, gloves and syringes. Some recently purchased
equipment is substandard and obsolete, they say. The government says it cannot
afford to increase salaries. It is not only the doctors but the whole civil service
that is pressing for pay increases, even though wages already account for more
than 80% of the national budget.

According to the Zimbabwean newspaper article report of 26 February 2016,

The Grain Marketing Board (GMB) which is a parastatal had its workers
besieging the company’s head office in the capital city Harare and vowed not to
move or return to work for 2 weeks demanding their outstanding salaries. The
company owed the workers six months salaries. The workers accused the
employer of being insensitive to their plight but insisted that they were not on
industrial action but simply wanted their dues so that they could be able to go
for their daily duties. They also refused a proposed payment plan by
management describing it as an insult. They said they would sit in at the head
office until their demands were met. The President of the GMB Workers Union
was quoted saying “We are not striking but simply demanding what we are
owed, we worked for it and we deserve to get our money. We are making huge
sales but always told that the company is waiting for treasury. Are we not
supposed to generate our own salaries through sales? More often than not
employers are reluctant to meet the demands of workers hence strikes ensue.
Most recently in November 2019 Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe
declared a strike due to incapacitation. They informed that teachers were no
longer able to report for duty due to incapacitation. Striking workers gathered
outside Apex Council offices, waving protest signs as armed police barred them
from moving to other areas of Harare. The teachers mentioned that they would
only be able to work for two days of the week, that is, Mondays and Fridays.
The president Takavafira Zhou is quoted saying they wanted teachers’ salaries
to be pegged at the interbank exchange -rate.

Employee debt: a number of employees are so much in debt they face a high
percentage of deductions after paying their creditors. Many compensations
attachment orders against employees, that they don’t even take much money
home because of the deductions employers make in terms of court orders.
Employees trusts this to be a solution in the employee’s desire to demand
increased wages. Employees believe that they do not lose much by going on
strike because they aren’t taking home very much money anyway. Employees
face family pressures because they need to explain why the little percentage of
their salaries is brought home. Organisations need to train their employees
regarding the issue of debt. Deduction of their salaries are done by a court order,
and employees end up taking home very little. It then becomes very easy to
blame the employer who does not pay enough. We have an issue of mine
workers who are the best paid workers and if they are struggling with poverty,
one should expect the situation to be even worse in other industries. Ultimately,
employers can no longer avoid these issues and say it is none of their concern.

Occupational hazards: Hazards are a source of situation with potential for

harm in terms of injury or ill-health, damage to property, damage to the
workplace environment, or a combination of these thus according to an online
blog howmed.net. According to the (Labour Act Chapter 28;104,4a) workers
are allowed to call for a strike in order to avoid any occupational hazard which
is reasonably feared to pose an immediate threat to the health or safety of the
persons concerned. This can be evidenced by the nurses and doctors strike
which happened on the 25th of March 2020. The medical professionals downed
tools in protest over the shortage of personal protective equipment in hospitals
and they feared contracting Coronavirus (the standard 2020). Zimbabwe
Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA), spokesperson Tapiwa Zvakavada was
quoted saying “doctors will not return to work unless government provides
proper gear needed by doctors for their protection”. The move by doctors and
nurses forced their employer/the government to quickly provide the demands of
ZHDA and the strike ended. Occupational hazards can arise due to lack of
proper resources such as protective clothing to avoid such risks.

Lack of resource to use at work place can also lead to a strike. Due to nature of
job every employee should be given protective clothing to protect against
dangers of the job e.g. in healthy sector gloves, face musk, disinfectants
however failure by the employer to provide these essentials the employees
would go on collective job action e.g. In Zimbabwe we are experiencing in the
Corona Virus Pandemic ,hundreds of healthcare professionals have refused to
work without protective equipment, beginning strike action in a standoff with
the government as the nation begins to see its first impacts of coronavirus.
Doctors and nurses in Zimbabwe have gone on strike because they cannot get
personal protective equipment (PPE), such as gloves, masks, sanitizers and
gowns, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. According to Newsday of
March 2020 the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association statement “We have
expressed to you the issue of PPE which is still not available. The way in which
hospital is to be run remains vague,” said in a statement. “Whilst you continue
to run around putting things in place, we would like to make it clear to you in no
uncertain terms that our members will not be able to continue carrying out their
duties with immediate effect.”

The Zimbabwe Nurses Association (ZINA) had similar complaints, citing a lack
of protective clothing as the underlying factor behind the job action. They made
it clear that they are the frontlines and they are meant report daily for duty.

Price Hikes: In the mid-term 2019 fiscal review announced on August 2 2019,
Finance and Economic Development minister increased electricity tariffs
threefold, and nearly did the same for fuel imports, hiked charges for State
services and goods and also increased the money transfer tax for mobile money
agents. This has further decimated salaries which remained unchanged amid a
176% inflation surge, the highest since dollarization in 2009.Electricity charges
increased from 9, 86 cents (US1 cent) per kilowatt hour (kWh) to 27 cents/kWh
(3 US cents), while taxation of fuel imports more than doubled from 19% and
16% of the landed cost for petrol and diesel to 45% and 40%,
respectively .Government gazetted Statutory Instrument 172 of 2019 paving the
way for a toll fee hike. Light motor vehicles prices are now required to pay $10
up from $2, mini-buses $15 up from $4 and conventional buses will now pay
$20 up from $5 with heavy vehicles and haulage trucks paying $25 and $50
respectively. Such price hikes will cause ordinary Zimbabweans to strike. On 14
January 2019 following a 130% increase in the price of fuel imposed by the
government thousands of Zimbabweans protested against the price increase,
along with increasing levels of poverty, the poor state of the economy, and
declining standards of living.

Disparity with increases awarded to senior people: employees will not take
you seriously during negotiations when you argue for limiting wage increases
while at the same time the Boards of Directors or Remuneration Committees
have declared massive rises or special payments to directors and/or senior
managers.In the first instance this recommends indifference to the predicament
of employees and secondly it creates discernments that increases due to
employees are being given to other parties within the enterprise. In some cases,
the increases given to directors have been so high that the negotiating capacity
of company negotiators has been totally compromised. Therefore, employers
must use their discretion when handling matters in such a manner, because it is
will result in employee disengagement. It should not be something to be
ashamed of, business leaders should be able to justify their packages without
fear and reservation.

Consumerism: employees look at their contemporaries and see that they are
buying luxurious motor vehicles and household goods and this gives increase to
feelings of anger and resentment. We are in an age of consumerism where it is
expected that the person primarily accountable for acquiring goods for the
family should do so on a regular basis.Although the need is articulated in
different ways, employees strive to increase their purchasing power to obtain
what today are regarded as being basic purchases such as TVs, toasters, vacuum
cleaners etc. Once employees are unable to obtain the ‘basics’ for their families,
feelings of wrath fill them and with no wage increase, a strike will become
inevitable.
Expectations: despite efforts, there are many employees who feel they have not
been given their exact position and they have not benefited from the new
democracy. As these issues are a reality and forms part of every organization,
employers must make sure that they are aware of which factors are driving their
employee’s demand and must be ready to bargain and negotiate if/when the
time comes. The major advantage of union strikes is that they allow workers to
protest action by an employer that they feel is unfair without the risk of firing or
punishment. A disadvantage of strikes is that they can cause financial damage to
the company involved since no work is being performed.

Poor remunerations: Strikes take place mostly when the minimum wage levels
are very low for example in Zimbabwe a local recruitment firm Lorimak which
is a recruiting agency which finds employees on behalf of ZOL and Liquid
Telecom came under fire from its employees who launched a scathing attack
against the firm over poor remuneration. According to their employees’ salaries
have been set at a ridiculous rate despite workers having to work hard for long
hours. According to one of the company’s employees they do not receive any
benefits despite those on permanent receiving coupons and good salaries, also
citing intimidation as a trait being employed by management. When they raised
concerns over poor remuneration management went and recruited interns as a
way of trying to silence them. The quality of customer service being offered is
said to have declined owing to the dissatisfaction of workers that are on short
term contract.

Communication: Workers need to be kept in the open and this can be achieved
through clear communication channels. If workers are kept in the dark, it can
lead to a strike as a way of forcing management to be open and communicate to
the workers on key issues affecting them such as job security or structural
changes within an organization. This happened during the ESAP era and this
resulted in several strikes within some companies. Minor issues that may
require the attention of management if not well communicated can cause de
satisfaction to the employees giving rise to the strike. Lack of understanding by
the workforce on certain issues such as management decision may trigger strike
especially when employee perceive threat on their security tenure. e.g. Sino Zim
6 months repair partial closure.

Differences in goals, managers are concerned with efficiency whilst workers

are concerned with security of tenure. This is one of the main factors which
causes strikes in Zimbabwe. Management most of the times is more worried
about production and forget the needs of the workers. Workers need job security
assurance. With the economic instability affecting the country most workers are
worried about their tenure on the job and need that security. If management
does not open on staff tenure the employees end up striking. At times workers
are worried about their security due to the nature of the job, at one stage doctors
went on a strike because the government was falling to avail adequate resources
for them to work such as modern hospital equipment.

Conclusion

Generally labour strike is an act by labourers to stop working as the form of

protest to the employers, but sometimes, strikes are used to put pressure on
governments and organisations to change policies. As we evaluate incidences of
a strike we also need to evaluate the effects of these strikes .Strikes can have
advantages and disadvantages .Even though some organisations could
experience some losses to the company (because the labourers refuse to work)
there is still an advantage to workers. The demands of the labourers can be
realized immediately because when the strike start, the owner should discuss the
demands of the labourers and prior to and during the strike, the government
agency responsible for manpower affairs is under an obligation to solve the
problem that leads to the emergence of strike by arranging a meeting and
negotiate between the disputing parties .Besides the advantages, the labour
strike also has disadvantages .It can influence the political and economic
stability, or cripple the company as the company will have some losses as they
cannot produce their goods or provide services and its possible to lose their
clients because of the pending production and loss of responsibility of the
company. A strike can be a risky move and may do more harm than good. The
employers with their large financial reserves, can be more able to withstand a
long drawn-out strike than the workers, particularly if these workers are
unskilled and easily replaced. In many cases, court injunctions will freeze or
confiscate the union's strike funds. And worst of all, a long walk-out only is
more likely to provide the boss a chance to replace striking workers with a
replacement workforce .Employees and their employers need to find a way to
avoid strikes or find solutions through peaceful bargaining ,joint problem
solving ,two way communication and open door policy
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