16/10/2025
Opening Remarks by the ZCTU Secretary General, Tirivanhu Marimo at the FES roundtable on “Updates on the TNF, Growing Informality, Public Sector Bill and Perspectives of Strengthening Solidarity".
"Comrades, I bring you revolutionary greetings from the working people of Zimbabwe. I want to thank FES, LEDRIZ, for providing this important platform. We meet at a time when the voice of labour must rise above fear, above fatigue, and above fragmentation.
The Reality We Face
The truth is, workers in Zimbabwe are under siege.
-Wages have been eroded to dust.
-Social protection is collapsing.
-Collective bargaining has become a ritual without power.
-And informality has swallowed the very concept of decent work.
-Our country is choked by the vice of a heavy Public Debt burden,
-massive deindustrialized.
-Our country has serious levels of wealth and income inequality.
-Our country is on the verge of having its democratic constitution mutilated.
-The pensioners, those who gave their best years working for Zimbabwe now live in misery, surviving on pensions too small to afford basic needs
-We live in a country where the people who produce wealth cannot afford
the bread they bake; the teacher cannot feed the child she teaches; and
the nurse who saves lives cannot pay for her own medicine.
This is not normal, and it cannot be accepted.
A Call for United Action
This is why we say today: Labour must rise — and rise united. Whether you
are from ZCTU, ZFTU, ZCPSTU, or ZCIEA — the struggle is one.
We may wear different jackets, but the pain of poverty and exploitation is
the same.
Our divisions only serve those who benefit from a weakened working class.
We must reclaim the spirit of unity that once made labour the heartbeat of
this nation. Because when workers speak with one voice, governments listen,
employers tremble, and society begins to shift.
Forums like this one are not talk shows — they are strategy sessions.
We are here to sharpen our ideas, to rebuild solidarity, and to prepare for action.
If the TNF is to mean anything, it must be a platform of equality, not a rubber stamp for anti-worker policies.
If the Public Service Bill is to pass, it must protect—not silence—the voice of
public servants.
And if the informal economy is to grow, it must do so with rights, with dignity, and with recognition.
Conclusion
Comrades, this is our moment to rebuild the labour movement — not in
words, but in unity and action.
Let us leave this room not as separate federations, but as one labour family
— committed to fight poverty, defend rights, and demand justice for every
worker in Zimbabwe.
It is workers who mobilized against ESAP in the late 90s. It is the workers that formed the National Constitutional Assembly
demanding a people-driven constitution 1997. It is the workers that formed the people's popular party in 1999 .The worker’s voice must never be silenced.
The worker’s dignity must never be compromised.
And our solidarity must never die.
Aluta continua — the struggle continues!
I think you".
