Already crippled by the burden of poverty and underdevelopment, the African continent carries the added weight of trade union repression. Whilst Africa's workers struggle to scrape a living wage from jobs that generally offer no social protection, the powers that be remain brutal in their oppression of
trade union rights, responding to attempts to improve conditions with
violent intimidation, arrests and dismissals. Collective bargaining
continues to be very limited on the continent and the export processing
zones developing in the wake of globalisation are simply inflating the
scale of exploitation.

In Zimbabwe, trade unionism continues to go hand in hand with
harassment, intimidation, arrests, dismissals and persecution. The long
list of workers' rights violations committed under President Mugabe's
regime over the last year confirms the country's sad reputation as the
leader in human and trade union rights violations on the continent.
Several trade union leaders have suffered the consequences, such as ZCTU
General Secretary, Wellington Chibebe who was arrested together with
four of his colleagues for organising a trade union workshop, Raymond
Majongwe, the General Secretary of the Progressive Teachers' Union of
Zimbabwe who was the victim of an assassination attempt and Lovemore
Matombo, President of the ZCTU, who was dismissed along with several
members of the Communications & Allied Services Workers' Union for
attending a meeting of African trade unions.

In Nigeria, the government, not content with its relentless union
bashing, has introduced a bill aimed at deregistering the Nigeria Labour
Congress (NLC), a trade union centre reputed for its activism. At least
three people died as a result of police brutality at demonstrations
organised by the NLC, and over a hundred more were arrested on account
of their trade union activities.

Freedom of association and the right to strike flouted

In Sudan, Egypt and Libya, trade union rights are simply nonexistent;
only the government-controlled unions are authorised. In Equatorial
Guinea, although trade union rights exist in theory, the situation in
practice is very different, with the government refusing to recognise
independent trade unions. In Djibouti and Senegal, unions cannot be
legally registered without government approval, whilst in Cameroon and
DR Congo, the governments will only deal with the unions under their
sway.

Respect for the right to strike is equally lacking. In Botswana, 444
miners striking in protest against discriminatory wage review were
dismissed and many were forcibly evicted from their homes. In Kenya, 188
tea plantation workers were fired for taking strike action following the
employer's failure to respect a wage agreement, and in South Africa, 150
porters lost their jobs three weeks into a strike. The financial bank of
Benin dismissed 40 union members, including 10 executives, for taking
part in a protest strike. Trade union leaders in Senegal were also
sacked following industrial action at a cement works.

Striking forest workers in Youande, Cameroon, suffered brutal injuries
in an attack by some thirty police officers armed with truncheons. In
Malawi, police fired real bullets in the air and used tear gas to rout
tea plantation workers striking to support their claim for redundancy
pay. The survey also chronicles a similar incident targeting former
railroad workers in Mozambique who had assembled to discuss their
redundancy pay.

Export processing zones, unbridled exploitation zones

In the EPZs - the symbol, par excellence, of the unbridled competition
dominating the global market at the expense of social and labour rights
- employers remain resolute in their opposition to any form of
organising or trade union activity, particularly in Malawi, Mauritius
and Nigeria. Across the continent, in the numerous zones stretching from
Morocco to Madagascar, abuse is common currency. In Kenya, a workplace
representative at a textile factory in the Athi River EPZ was dismissed
and blacklisted after asking the company to pay the wage increases set
down in the collective agreement signed the previous year.

In Namibia, a Chinese worker at a Malaysian-owned textile plant reputed
for its anti-union practices found herself in hospital following an
attack by a dog used by security guards during a demonstration organised
by the Chinese workers. They were protesting their working conditions,
the inedible food and the medicals imposed at their own expense. Four
hundred Bangladeshi workers were evicted and had their work permits
confiscated after protesting against the appalling living conditions. At
the end of September, the court ruled that the company had to pay 66 of
these workers ten months wages, their flight home and part of their
legal expenses. An inquiry held by the National Union of Namibian
Workers (NUNW) revealed that the Bangladeshi workers had paid
recruitment agencies up to 21 million dollars without receiving any
proof of payment, opening the door to serious suspicions of human
trafficking.

The ICFTU represents 145 million workers in 234 affiliated organisations
in 154 countries and territories (www.icftu.org)

The ICFTU is also a partner in Global Unions:
http://www.global-unions.org

For more information, please contact the ICFTU Press Department on +32 2
224 0245 or +32 476 621 018.