Title: Advocacy Campaign Strategy for the Promotion of Farm workers Rights Knowledge Mwonzora General Agriculture and Plantation Workers Union of Zimbabwe ZIMBABWE

Table of Contents  Brief Background of GAPWUZ  Objectives and targets  Context analysis  Impact on workers

Introduction Brief of Background of  Was formed in 1982 and registered in trade union organization, which was established to promote, advance and protect the rights and interests of workers in the agricultural sector. The mission of gapwuz is to provide good quality and efficient service through empowering and advancing the living and working conditions of agricultural workers

Objectives and key targets  1) To increase the wages of farm workers by 40% in the next 6months  2) To ensure that worker’s rights are effectively promoted by  3) To ensure access to justice to all our membership by 2015.

Targets  When increasing wages we target  Farm workers, National employment council of agriculture, worker’s committees.

Context analysis -Poor living and working conditions Violation of farm worker’s rights. -situation deteriorated after the 2000 land invasions. The land grabbing by some war veterans displaced some workers and left them stranded and homeless.  It is estimated that there is about farm workers in Zim. These are the people who suffer from unfair labour practices such as unfair dismissal& intimidation

Impact on workers  They are deprived of their political rights, and children drop out of school,  The organisation therefore has to campaign for the realisation of workers rights.

Advocacy strategies to promote farm worker’s rights  The organisation builds alliances with other trade union e.g Coalition against Child Labour in Zimb,zim lawyers for human rights  The organisation sensitize and mobilise people to strike so that their wages will be reviewed upwards.  policy brief and media release is also used toinfluence policy makers on labour laws

Policy recommendations  I recommend that government precisely the ministry of Labour should formulate a clear policy that promotes fairness, equality and social justice in farm communities. In this sense the policy should be explicit on the minimum age requirement of working in farm communities. So far there is no clear legislation on child labour.