The Right to Strike in Zimbabwe’s Labor Law: A Liability or a Trap at Worst?

Abstract

Strike action commonly referred to as “strike” occupies a central position in labour relations in that it seeks to strengthen the bargaining power of employees than would otherwise be the case if it were a matter of each employee facing the employer on their own. In other words, strike action is concerned with the need to bring about equilibrium in industrial relations between two competing interests; labour and capital1 . Strike action refers to the collective and concerted withdrawal of labour by workers in support of their interests2 . Section 65 (3) of the Constitution of the Republic of Zimbabwe, 20133 (hereinafter called ‘the constitution’) entrenches the right to strike thereby making it justiciable. A strike is a form of collective job action as defined in section 2 of the Labour Act Chapter 28:014 , hereinafter referred to as the “Act”. An analysis of the above definition of strike action brings certain aspects of this right to the fore. Firstly, for a strike to be regarded as such, there must be in existence an employment relationship and one must be in a position to point out who the parties to that relationship are. Secondly, a strike can only be resorted to by employees. In other words, it is one of the ways by which employees can effectively stand their ground in demand of their rights, which rights must be related to the employment relationship. One employee cannot embark on a strike. That there should be more than one employee for a strike to suffice is so because of the inherent inequality in bargaining power between the employer and the employee which inequality ordinarily results in the employer prevailing over the employee concerned. Thus, the idea is to try and strengthen the bargaining power of employees. In other words, the employer has the potential to exploit labour in the absence of some balancing mechanism