By Staff Writer
THE one working week long Tripartite Negotiating Forum meeting which ended last Friday fired another set of empty promises shots and threats sustaining the same record which has characterised the platform since its emergence.
TNF is a social dialogue platform bringing together representatives from Labour ,Government and Business in view of reaching reasonable compromises in as far as addressing socio-economic challenges bedevilling the nation is concerned.
Historical analysis shows that since formation in 1998, the TNF has always met to disagree with nothing tangible to the benefit of the common man ever being realised.
The establishment of a mechanism of social dialogue to deal with the country’s socio-economic challenges had long been called for by the ZCTU.
In proposing an alternative narrative to ESAP, the ZCTU (1996) articulated the need for “a coordinated, bottom-up approach” supported by a tripartite institutional structure that would ensure that “all interest groups and stakeholders participate in policy formulation.
But nevertheless, the platform failed to end the crises bedevilling the nation up until a point when political tensions continued to hold on as all parties in the platform had deep mistrust among themselves bordered on political lines.
The ascension of the Second Republic gave a sigh of relief through the birthing of the fierst ever legislated TNF in 2019, however nothing tangible was realised since then with labour always crying foul due to its unmet demands.
TNF Dischord spilling over to 2024.
To hit the new year running , the TNF convened in the resort town of Victoria Falls from January 15 to 19 2024 to craft a strategic plan for the year ahead. Running under a very ambitious theme dubbed “Social Dialogue for Nation Building”.
The event had every justification at face value to take a deep dive into tax payers purse.
However, a few snippets from the well attended indaba deserves some level of introspection.
Notably, remarks made by the ZCTU President ,Florence Taruvinga demonstrated undertones of dissatisfaction over the manner in which the platform is working.
“I challenge the Minister of Finance to consult workers when coming up with policy instead of the current situation where the country is being run by inconsistent and contradictory Statutory Instruments,” she said.
Taruvinga called for co-opting the TNF Founding principles like the Kadoma Declaration, Prices and Incomes Stabilisation Protocol, the Protocol on Mobilisation, Pricing and Management of Foreign Currency and the TNF Act.
“All these documents and others not mentioned should be linked to our key national developmental policy frameworks such as the National Development Strategy (NDS1) and other strategies.
“As such, we hope that the mid-term review of NDS1 will be discussed under the auspices of the TNF as a basis for fine-tuning its implementation for the remainder of its tenure up to the end of 2025,” she said.
Taruvinga hit out at corrupt government officials who are protecting Chinese investments that are not benefiting Zimbabweans and threatened to expose them.She said attending the TNF was not a sign of weakness on part of organised labour, workers are prepaid to demonstrate if their rights are violated.
In a sharp discordant twist, Labour Minister ,July Moyo showered praises on the week long Retreat, in the process choosing to turn a blind eye on pertinent issues bedevilling the workers as raised by the ZCTU.
“We also brought people from the international community and some of them had been told the worst about Zimbabwe and some had even reported to the International Labour Organisation , so this was an opportunity for them to see what we are doing and we are very happy that they listened to our regional organisation of Labour.
“So going forward we are going to work together as Zimbabweans , trade unions and business in order to assist the economy.The Finance Minister ,Prof Mthuli Ncube was able to give Government’s position on how we want to work as a Tripartite.
“I am very happy with the developments and think that gives us the impetus Our President likes dialogue , he has done so on the political end and he is willing to see business and labour dialoguing and we have assured everyone that Zimbabwe is Open for business as he wants to move this country to another level,” he said.
The Employers Conferderation of Zimbabwe rep Demos Mbauya instead briefed the media on the need for trust building and placed emphasis on the organ’s commitment to work closely with the government but failed to bring out a practical way in which business will address the problems faced by the working class.
Labour experts have however expressed worries over the lack of a coherent plan of action , strict deadlines to resolve the most pressing issues obtaining on the socio-economic front.
“The lack of admission on the nature of the deep crises the nation continues to drown in and several conflicting statements with parties to the strategic meeting choosing to remain diplomatic and not calling a spade a spade reduces the workers and citizens hopes to dust,” one labour activist said on condition of anonymity.
Another seasoned retired labour expert said the lack of anything tangible to attribute to the legislated TNF since 2019 makes it remote and distant to the plight of the ordinary folk expecting a better life.
“It is all written in black and white that nothing much has come out of the platform despite raising high hopes among the citizens when TNF got legislated back in 2019. Surprisingly even the 2024 National Budget consultations and subsequent amendments made thereafter did not receive any input from the platform.
“These are just few examples revealing the need for players at TNF to take their daily business seriously.This time around they had an obligation to tell the nation what hey are going to do when and how, not this secrecy kind of operation,” she said.
