WORKERS DAY: Inconvenience for the disillusioned Zimbabwean

It is 2016 and Workers Day much like every day has come again.

While the rest of the world celebrates labour and the historic milestones such as the establishment of an 8-hour working day for the most Zimbabweans it will pass by without incident.

Historically labour has come with employment and the defence of the rights of such and in many countries the celebration of such holds true.

In Zimbabwe, where formal employment continues to dwindle it is hard to see this day as more than an inconvenience. You see, long weekends are great if you have an employer who allows you the traditional work day off to celebrate life. Much of Zimbabwe sits in the informal sector and a lot of them survive on hand to mouth. So, for the owner of a small business, it is a day lost as everything comes to a standstill really. While trade can happen between smaller entities if there is a need to go to more traditional setups to buy something, well it has to waiting until Tuesday.

And as for that eight hours a day success? Well many small business owners will tell you that is a myth as they have to work often 12 to 14 hour days just to make ends meet.

For those who do have a job of some sort it is a day saved on transport money, lunch and all the other trappings of a regular job. Although of course, being idle means some of that money is diverted to less productive activities.

People are broke and three years after the promise the 2 million jobs remain a pipe dream. In effect the feeling among much of the populace is that we are further away from that goal than we were in 2013.

We really want to celebrate, but it is hard. Maybe it is about a journey of thousand miles, and we are not meant to see some of these things in our lifetime, but…

Oh well Monday is a holiday…