At the TUC in Brighton yesterday, we heard a powerful speech from Thabitha Khumalo, 3rd VP of the ZCTU, the TUC’s equivalent body in Zimbabwe. She spoke frankly about the personal harm she had already faced, and was willing to face in the future, to help bring stability and democracy to her country, things we take very much for granted. You can read her speech here.
One bit that struck me was when she told us her instinctive initial reaction had been fear when she heard people heckling Tony Blair on Tuesday, worrying that the police would storm in to break Congress up for insulting the leader, as would happen in Zimbabwe.
It made for especially uncomfortable listening, when we’d spent several days bemoaning our own trade union problems, which now seemed slightly trivial in comparison with the terrible abuses suffered by colleagues in the Zimbabwean labour movement. To close her contribution, she led us in a rendition of “We will overcome” – something which the TUC hasn’t heard in a while. The conference was obviously deeply moved, but seemed so shocked that the song came out quietly and reverentially, more of a hymn than a protest.
Just hours after Thabitha left the stage, word started to come through that the police in Zimbabwe had started to round up trades unionists – ahead of a planned peaceful national demo for today. Over 400 are now believed to be in custody, with many of the leadership beaten badly and denied medical aid or legal representation. Thabitha is now the most senior labour movement figure outside of prison. This story shocked me especially, mentioning Grace Kwinjeh (the MDC’s Deputy Secretary for International Affairs), another very brave woman who I had the privilege of meeting last year at a meeting when she was part of a delegation to the UK.
The TUC has written to Robert Mugabe, though as he’s not the biggest fan of Britain’s unions or politicians, I doubt their outrage will cause him to lose much sleep. Please read Thabitha’s powerful speech, and help spread the word.