Comrades and Friends and All the working class in Zimbabwe.
We have this May Day today under very difficult conditions facing workers in the country and where for the first time in 130 years workers around the world will not be able to celebrate May Day in the streets and stadiums but under lockdown.
Where workers of the world that are classified as essential services are in the frontline sweating it out to combat the deadly pandemic Covid-19.Some are loosing their lives serving their communities and their own beloved ones. Workers are doing this
despite poor and in adequate health and safety standards,lack of testing facilities for themselves and those they are taking care of,poor working conditionns,no testing kits and poor contact tracing strategies.
We salute all these frontline workers.
Comrades, it would be a disservice if we fail to mention those that are not in essential services that are locked up in their homes and dwellings with their families,relatives and all their beloved ones facing loss of incomes,retrenchments, casualisation of labour and non renewal of fixed term contracts.
These workers are facing a bleak future which if rescue packages are not put in place there will be chaos which will lead to destabilisation of family lives and society at large and the nation might be faced with suicides,many divorcees and many other societal ills.
To avert all these challenges mentioned above, there should be a people’s Government which should therefore :
1.improve conditions of work for all frontline workers that are taking care of the sick.
2 Purchase adequate equipment to fight the Covid pandemic
3 Improve occupational safety and health standards for frontline workers and
4 establish testing facilities for workers and the general public
5.Immediate removal of the 2% tax
6.Offer tax exemption for frontline workers such as nurses and doctors, security agents, key administration staff in Government.
7.Raise and expand the tax bracket by 300% with a view to leave workers with more income since the poverty datum line has risen to $5300 for a family of five per month.
8.Pay workers in hard currency( $US)
9.Introduce comprehensive political and economic reforms to resolve the governance crisis in Zimbabwe.
The people’s government would also create a conducive environment that should be able to ameliorate the situation of those workers that were affected by retrenchments, closures of factories and industries,and loss of wages during the Lockdown period and those that are in the informal sector.
The informal sector workers are facing a bleak future as their livelyhoods were destroyed during the Second Murambatsvina where their wares were destroyed and their shelters were raised down.
The people’s government would therefore need to put strong safety nets to cater for a wide range of informal workers.
We urge workers in the formal and informal sectors to organize and unite in order to face this bleak and imminent threat in Unison.
Aluta continua.
As a worker-conscious people’s party, we urgently call for the scaling up social protection and dialogue, saving of jobs and paying of a living wage.
In our Agenda 2020 statement, we put forward the five fights that we, the working people of Zimbabwe must pursue this year.They are as follows;
• The fight for a people’s government, reforms and return to legitimacy.
• The fight for a better life, dignity and livelihoods.
• The fight against corruption.
• The fight for rights, freedoms, security of persons and rule of law.
• The fight in defence of the constitution and constitutionalism.
The above mentioned shall form the core of all working people struggles this 2020.We stand with all workers in these struggles.
Workers of the world unite.Workers shall triumph.Victory is certain!
Aluta continua.
Gideon Shoko
MDC-Alliance Secretary
Labour and Social Security
