by James Parks, Aug 1, 2008

More than 2,000 supporters sent photos of themselves to make up this mosaic of Lovemore Motombo and Wellington Chibebe.

At the WeAreZCTU website, the photos of more than 2,000 union members are crying out for freedom for Zimbabwe and the people of that suffering nation.

Workers around the world sent the photos to create a mosaic of Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) leaders Lovemore Motombo and Wellington Chibebe. In May, the Zimbabwean government arrested and released on bail Chibebe and Motombo, the secretary general and president, respectively, of the ZCTU. They are charged with “inciting the public to rise against the government and communicating falsehoods” in the midst of that country’s runoff presidential election.      

They were detained for questioning after Chibebe, winner of the AFL-CIO’s 2003 George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award, told a May Day rally in Harare that post-election violence was increasing. As a condition of their bail, Chibebe and Motombo are not allowed to “address any political gathering until this matter is finalized,” says the judge. Their trial, which originally was set for June 23, has been postponed three times and now is scheduled for Aug. 27. 

To show support for the ZCTU leaders, more than 2,000 union members around the world sent in photos to create a photo mosaic of the two men at the WeAreZCTU website. Click here to view the mosaic and add your picture.   

Last week, nearly 100 trade unionists and other worker justice activists marched outside Zimbabwe’s embassy in Washington, D.C., demanding fair and free elections and an end to government-sponsored violence against opponents.

 The demonstration was sponsored by the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, the TransAfrica Forum, the AFL-CIO and several other groups. 

Members of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe’s ruling party have waged a violent and deadly national campaign of intimidation, with union members as major targets, to ensure he remains in power. Mugabe has ruled the country since 1980.

After Mugabe failed to win re-election in March and was forced into a runoff election, he unleashed what AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka calls a three-month “campaign of total terror in which thousands of people, including trade unionists, were threatened, tortured, beaten and murdered.”

The ZCTU, which had issued a series of demands to make the election fair, declared that the presidential runoff in June was “neither free nor fair” and refused to accept the outcome.

The AFL-CIO Solidarity Center, along with the international labor movement, is taking part in a global campaign, Stand Up for Zimbabwe, to end violence in Zimbabwe and show solidarity with its people.

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