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| Title: | Fighting for democracy of the pocket: the labour movement in the Third Republic |
| Author: | Mulenga, Friday E. |
| Book title: | One Zambia, many histories: towards a history of post-colonial Zambia |
| Year: | 2008 |
| Pages: | 243-258 |
| Language: | English |
| Geographic term: | Zambia |
| Subjects: | trade unions labour law |
| Abstract: | This essay examines why, after playing such a prominent role in the democratization of the country, the influence of the labour movement in Zambia declined so drastically under the Third Republic. The author sets out a number of internal and external factors which has undermined the position of the movement in one of the most heavily urbanized sub-Saharan African countries. One important factor has been the mono-economy of the country; it was important for the colonial government and later the Zambian State to control the copper-mining industry, both the companies and the miners. The author looks at the importance of the Trade Unions and Trade Disputes Ordinance, promulgated just after Independence, and points out that it was more an instrument to help UNIP (United National Independence Party) control the trade unions. This endorsed the principle of 'one industry, one union' and compelled all existing unions to seek affiliation with the Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU). Neither this nor the Industrial Relations Act of 1971 which replaced it dispelled the disunity which prevailed in the labour movement. Enforced membership of ZCTU remained a sore point. Later Kaunda's government fell out with the ZCTU as the former regarded Frederick Chiluba, the Chairman General of ZCTU, as a political threat. In the 1980s, ZCTU showed support for Chiluba and his Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). Under the Third Republic the trade union movement suffered from a lack of funds and a loss of a sense of political direction. The disunity became even more marked in the 1990s. Finally, after economic liberalization, the labour market was hit by huge redundancies and structural adjustment programmes imposed by the World Bank have caused the movement's power to decline even more sharply. At present, a generational change is taking place to young leaders who have experienced neither independence nor the single-party system. Although no move has been made to incorporate informal workers into the movement, the trade unions do have the support of the churches and of civil society. In Zambia, as elsewhere in Africa, trade unionism is unlikely to flourish until there is a general economic improvement. Nevertheless, Zambian trade unions still have a nationwide potential to rally support and influence, to some extent, government decisions. Notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract] |
