Do the under paid celebrate Workers Day?

This Saturday Zimbabweans celebrate Workers Day under the theme 'Forward Ever, Backward Never. Intensify the Workers' Struggle'. This day has a very different meaning to a Zimbabwean worker considering that most workers are not content with their salaries and not pleased with their working conditions.

As part of the celebrations, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union (ZCTU) has arranged a march from D-Square, near Mpopoma High School, to the White City Stadium. The ZCTU Regional Officer for the Western region, Percy Mcijo, said that this year workers need to come together and deal with the various challenges that they face. He added that workers are the main creators of a nation’s wealth and therefore should get a fair share of it.

Workers have been the worst affected by country’s economic decline as most of them lost their jobs when companies liquidated because they were failing to cope with the changes in the economy. Currently, some companies are operating below 20 percent capacity and this has adverse effects on the workers as it means that they receive inadequate remuneration. Most workers working in the factories in the city have gone for months without pay and motivation. Workers are living below the poverty datum line yet the government still continues to turn a deaf ear. Such issues have led to a mass exodus of workers to the diaspora in search of greener pastures. The majority has taken to selling wares in the streets and to vending as formal employment no longer carries the same privileges it used to. If the dissatisfactions of workers are not met, development of the country will continue at a very slow pace. The government of national unity should address the concerns of workers as a matter of urgency.

Why then should underpaid workers celebrate Workers' Day? Are these celebrations merely about celebrating the fact that one wakes up every morning and goes to work or it is about celebrating that as a worker one adds to the wealth of the nation?

ZITF official opening

On my way to work my attention was caught by the police officers standing at every intersection along Robert Mugabe Way. This reminded me that today is the official opening of the ZITF by President Robert Mugabe and the guest of honour the Presidents of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

This is one of the events that are deliberately meant to diverge the attention of the citizens. Through such events we are made to forget about the challenges that we face on a daily basis and relax at the fair admire the beautiful cars on display, eat candy floss and toffee apples the list is endless. The day ends with smiles on children's faces and the parents too. However, when the sun rises the next day all your sorrows dawn on you and voila all the problems that the fair had made to disappear are back in your face. You wake up and ZESA is gone, the cold water you intend to bath in looks rusty, you have to hike on vehicles that are unli unlicensed to ferry passengers because you can only afford to spend R3 on transport, if you are not already carrying a lunchbox with bread and butter then your next meal might be when you come back home.

We do not live in fantasy land where its all roses and should not drift and day dream but face reality with sober minds.

The world we live in...

So many things are happening in the world we live in. Whether we are part of those making things happen, watching as things happen or not even aware of what is happening is up to us. We should all be ware of the fact that one way or the other we are affected by what happens in the world we live in.

We should all care about the politics of the day that way we know how we can contribute to the world we live in. Politics shapes the way the world turns out, it shapes how your day will start and end. Believe it or not it shapes your life. Now the question is "How?".

Through dialogue, discussions and debates this blog will be an eye opener, an informer and a non-discriminatory platform for those that want to discuss politics.