The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has called on for nationwide protests over the maximum withdrawal limits imposed by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe-- by thronging their respective banks and demand their money on December 3
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Addressing a media conference in Harare at the labour centre, the President of the ZCTU Lovemore Matombo said his organization has been urging the RBZ to remove the cap on cash withdrawals but the central bank was not taking them seriously.

Matombo said after strenuous consultations through labour forums which were held throughout the country, ZCTU general council –which is the decision making body resolved in Masvingo on November 25 that a nationwide protest be organized where workers will express their anger towards the current monetary policies being promoted by the RBZ be held
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“We have reached levels which are now beyond the comprehension of the generality of our workers , who are forced to queue, day in day out with some even sleeping outside banks for days to get a paltry $ 500 000” said Matombo

The ZCTU president said workers should not seek permission to get their hard earned cash from their respective banks adding that they no longer accept withdrawal increases but full access to their money.

Matombo rubbished the sentiments by what he termed purported economists who said limiting cash withdrawal curb inflation.

“L think we now know that since they started these measures, there has been no improvement” he said

Matombo said the licensing of selected shops to trade in foreign currency had caused untold suffering to workers across the country and people as a whole. He said most workers are being paid in local currency and the money they have known is the Zimbabwean dollar.

He said Zimbabweans are now forced to sleep on the doors of banks, on pavements and at the market places in an effort to be the first to withdrawal their hard earned cash.
Matombo said workers were only donating labour power to their employers because the salaries are not motivating at all.

“Everyone now accepts except the illegitimate government of Zimbabwe that Zimbabwean workers are the poorest in the world” he said adding that even Haiti’s salaries are even higher than Zimbabwe.

He said workers have to earn their wages in foreign currency saying “you cannot regulate one area and deregulate the other area”
“The government has lost faith in their local currency and why should they force workers to have faith in the local currency which is now useless in the eyes of the government” said Matombo

He said universal treaties under the International Labour Organization, salary or wage is a right for every worker, but here in Zimbabwe, it has become a privilege just for a few with the rest of the workers being denied their salaries and wages.

Matombo said workers have also lost hope in the Collective Bargaining Process as whatever they negotiate for cannot be accessed from the bank.


However, call for action comes after ZCTU shelved the planned action on October 1. Reserve bank Governor increased the maximum withdrawal limit on the eve of the action from $20 000 to 50 000 to escape the nation wide protest that had been organized by ZCTU.

Meanwhile President Robert Mugabe on November 25 extended the suffering of the people of Zimbabwe by renewing Gono’s contact to November 2013.
Gono has been at the helm of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe since 2003 and Zimbabweans have witnessed a massive depreciation of the economy under Gono’s policies.