Teacher unions from Zimbabwe and Niger answered Education International’s call to support the Global Action Day on the Right to Strike by organising and spearheading various activities that stressed the importance of taking labour action.
In the country’s capital Harare, a seminar run by Education International’s (EI) affiliate, the Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association (ZIMTA) brought together educators to learn about their constitutional rights and obligations as civil servants, and to urge the government to facilitate, and hasten the ongoing labour law harmonisation process. The union wants its members be able to fully exercise their right to strike and participate in collective bargaining processes, as already enshrined in the country’s constitution.
Although they celebrated their newly acquired right to strike, branch and district union leaders said that they also want to enter into collective bargaining processes with the government, because the current National Joint Negotiating Council’s platform had proved to be less effective over the years.
Video of the ZIMTA workshop:
Niger: Support for ILO workers’ group
In Niger, a conference organised by the Tillaberi local branch of the Syndicat national des agents de la Formation et de l’Education du Niger (SYNAFEN) informed its members of the current dispute at the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and held public meetings with interested parties from government, parliament, justice and advocacy groups for human rights. It also called on members to demonstrate and or send correspondence to the government and to organise public demonstrations and actions via social networks to get the government to protect the right to strike.
Upholding an essential right
For EI, the right to strike is a cornerstone of democracy and social justice which has been recognised internationally for over 50 years. However, despite 90 countries having incorporated the right in their national constitutions, it is increasingly being challenged by governments and employers worldwide.
The global trade union federation of educators has also condemned recent actions by employers’ representatives at the ILO to challenge the very legal foundation of the right to strike and its transposition into national law, to the point of disrupting the functioning of the ILO’s supervisory mechanisms.