Strike activity - is a form of labour unrest (industrial action) in which there is work stoppage

arising from mass refusal of employees to work usually as a reaction to failure by the employer
to address their grievances.

It is done to force the employer to assent to employees demands and can be violent as a result
of a confrontational approach used by the employees

Conflict – is a clash of interests. As defined by Diez et al (2006), Conflict is a struggle or

contest between people with opposing needs, ideas, beliefs, values or goals. It denotes the
incompatibility of subject positions.

INTRODUCTION
The conception that strike activity is declining the world over is a fact that cannot be disputed
and this is a phenomenon that has also caught up with Zimbabwe. The decline in strike activity
does not necessarily imply absence of conflict between employers and employees. Most
scholars consider conflict as inevitable and a natural process in human relationships including
within the workplace. (Ury, Brett, Goldberg, 1988; Walton, 1969).

There is no single cause, which can adequately explain the long-term decline of strike activity
of workers within the country. There are several contributory factors that have led to long-term
decline in strike activity other than the fact that there is no conflict between employers and
employees. There has been a rise in new procedures of resolving disputes (conflict). i.e.
introduction of the concept of human resource management in firms and organisations in
Zimbabwe, globalisation, high rate of unemployment, resulting in the formation of small to
medium scale enterprises, restrictive laws like the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures)
Act, POSA and AIPPA and inactive trade unions are some factors that have contributed to the
decline of strike activity in Zimbabwe

Some scholars have however argued that, the decline in strikes is a clear sign that there is no
conflict in the work place (unitarists theory) and some have attributed the long term decline in
strike activity in Zimbabwe to the paradigm shift on the role of the Human Resources
management within organizations. As highlighted in the Pluralist theory, conflicts do exists
and are allowed, but these are dealt with democratically by means of collective bargaining and
reaching a consensus hence the decline in strikes.

1
Restrictive laws

According to the ILO Commission of inquiry, Zimbabwe 2009, the Commission observed that
the right to strike was not fully guaranteed in law or practice. Apart from the National
Constitution which has provision for strike, the other Labour laws have unclear provisions on
whether strike is really allowed and for civil servants they should not engage in a strike as they
provide essential services. These laws have not yet been synchronised with the National
constitution. Trade unions and workers’ committees are immune from civil liability but not
from any breach of the law. That is, illegal strikes are a breach of law therefore a crime. The
law in Zimbabwe gives the right to strike with one hand and takes it away with the other.

The above demonstrates why in Zimbabwe, it is very difficult to engage in a collective job
action e.g. a strike since the procedures are prohibitive as enshrined in the Labour Act 28:01
and exacerbated by the powers given to the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social
Welfare, who can use his/her „discretion‟ to call off the industrial action

Fear of being unemployed

In 2015 about 20 000 workers lost their jobs in an unprecedented wave of retrenchments and
dismissals following a Supreme Court ruling confirming employers’ right to remove workers
on three months’ notice without paying severance packages. The skyrocketing hyperinflation
and the closure of industries have instilled the fear of losing jobs in workers, with ZIMSTATS
stating unemployment rate in 2019 at roughly 95%.

Zimbabwean workers are ceased with eking out a living, mostly in the informal sector. The
lack of worker organisation in this sector then gives rise to the decline in the strike activity.

Risk of losing income during the period employees are on strike

2
If the strike is deemed by the authorities to be illegal, the employees risk losing earnings if the
employer decides to take the necessary disciplinary action. This might involve withholding
earnings relative to the time one was on strike or the affected workers could lose their jobs.

As the worker is evolving so is the importance, power and role of the trade union continuing to
shift to human resources management. The power that trade unions used to have on the labor
force has shifted as more employers are embracing human resources management skills .This
has resulted in more employers engaging their employees when it comes to working conditions
and remuneration. Strikes have therefore drastically reduced because of this new dimension of
the relationship between employee and employer. This is also seen and supported in that the
decline of strikes has "matched" the decline of union membership and density.

Another contributor to the decline in strikes can be attributed to the fear of victimization and
actual victimization itself. Many employers do not want their operations disturbed by strikes
so they tend to use methods or tactics that instil fear in their employees. Managers may be
tasked to undertake one on one meetings with employees and asking them to sign letters that
do not permit them to go on strike. This tactic is further enabled by the fact that some workers
are not part of a workers’ union thus they are vulnerable. Tough there is a decline in strike
activity the conflict between employer and workers is still very much there.

The Shift of leverage power to employers due to the increase in globalization and
automation

Globalization is a process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and
governments of different nations. The process is driven or enabled by the advent of information
technology. Therefore jobs can now be created through globalisation, but they tend to be
created in the areas where labour costs are the cheapest. As a result workers cannot embark on
a strike for they can easily lose their jobs.

Globalisation has created an environment where workers are unable to have any leverage when
it comes to negotiating for better salaries and working conditions. Workers are forced to either
freelance their skills, create their own business, or accept low pay scale to keep their
employment.

3
Automation is the technology by which a process or procedure is performed with minimal
human assistance. This has resulted in many workers being retrenched. Therefore those who
will still be employed, at a workplace where there is a lot of technological advancements, will
not dare engage in any industrial action because they can simply be replaced by the technology
where there is little or no human intervention needed.

Informal sector

The informal sector of the economy, is the part of an economy whose activities to large extent
are not monitored by the regulatory authorities e.g. the government. With the high
unemployment rate, for example in Zimbabwe, the informal sector provides critical economic
opportunities for the people who are not in formal employment. Most informal sector
businesses are operated as family small business entities. Mostly the employer can also be the
employee, that is sole proprietor, or in some instances the employer and employee(s) are
related. Strike activities by the employee(s) in this sector thus do not have an impact on the
operation of the informal business entity as employees can easily be replaced. Resultantly there
is no strike activities in the informal sector as this would literally mean one striking against
themselves or it could be due to the lack of labour unions in the informal sector to co-ordinate
the activities. Thus the prevailing employment model in the informal sector is contributing to
the decline in strike activities. This then highlights the fact that conflict could still be there
between employers and employees but they are settled in other ways which are not strike
activities.

However, strikes could have declined due to favourable working conditions. The conditions
include things like lighting, size and space in which a worker must perform his/her task.
Working conditions have a significant impact on the morale and productivity of the worker. In
addition, healthy working conditions protect the wellbeing of the workers reducing chances of
work place injuries. Good working conditions for workers is a legal requirement and it also
makes good business sense. Hygiene factors are basic expectations that employees have of a
good working environment. Other good working conditions include remuneration, profit
sharing, employee benefit, responsibilities and accountability, work load, job security,
organisational culture and performance management.

4
CONCLUSION

The decline of strike activity does not provide sufficient evidence of the absence of conflict
between employers and employees in the workplace. We however have to acknowledge that
the paradigm shift in the role of the Human Resources Management (to promote industrial
harmony) in Zimbabwe has played a part in the decline of industrial relations disputes. The
Zimbabwe Labour Act (Chapter 28:01) and in most cases provisions envisaged in registered
employment codes of conduct, emphasizes the importance of managers having the knowledge,
skills and confidence to be able to intervene at an early stage to nip disputes in the bud before
they escalate

The long term decline in strike activity in Zimbabwe can be attributed to various factors which
include restrictive laws, fear of being unemployed, risk of losing income, globalisation and
automation and the advent of the informal sector. It is therefore not conclusive to attribute the
long-term decline of strike activity in Zimbabwe to absence of conflict between employers and
workers. Conflict is inevitable.