Published December 7, 2024 | Version v1
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Trade Unionism in Zimbabwe under conditions of autocratic neoliberalism, 2014 to 2024: Challenges and Possibilities for Revival and Transformation

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This paper examines the severe crisis affecting Zimbabwe’s trade union movement from 2014 to 2024 under neoliberal globalization. It explores the compounded external and internal challenges weakening unionism, shown by declining membership, diminished activism, job insecurity, and a drastic wage fall. Externally, union struggles stem from Zimbabwe’s repressive political environment and neoliberal economic policies, leading to informal work conditions and labour casualisation—a trend originating with the 1991 Economic Structural Adjustment Programme. Internally, the paper highlights fragmentation within unions, a disempowered membership base, and a corrupt, elitist leadership that stifles democratic union processes and aligns ideologically with neoliberalism. This leadership is reinforced by support from employers, political elites, and international allies. Despite these formidable challenges, the paper argues that the trade union movement remains an essential and indispensable platform for the working class to challenge and confront the hegemony of the capitalist ruling class and for a more humane, just and egalitarian society based on socialist ethos and foundations.

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