Medical Professionals and Allied Workers Union

Union writes to ZCTU

at Friday, April 15, 2011

Medical Professional and Allied Workers Union
1st floor Crossroads Building
No, 43 Julius Nyerere Way
Tele 04704209, 0772908847
Email mpawuz@gmail.com ,www.http//mpawuz.blogspot.com

Harare

21 March 2011

The Secretary General
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU)
Chester House
88 Speke Avenue

Harare

ATTENTION COMRADE CHIBHEBHE
RE: COMMITMENT TO AFFILIATION TO ZCTU
The above matter refers
The Medical Professional and Allied Workers Union would like to restate its commitment to re- affiliate to ZCTU, this is in pursuit of a process that was initiated in late 2007 that you responded to in January 2008 see attached copy of your letter.
We would want to apologise for seemingly not regarding the stated rudiments in the letter, however please accept our humble submission that it was not because we deliberately decided not to nor did we at anytime have a change of mind in respect to affiliating to ZCTU.The problem as you may recall, is that the succeeding period from your letter was a period of untold economic hardships which no single Trade Union in Zimbabwe was spared and worse to smaller unions like ours .We faced intermittent operating challenges that literally brought down the union. We faced a massive exodus of Union leaders looking for opportunities in neighbouring countries leaving a leadership vacuum and no one was there to pursue the matter. We have since restructured the Union and we are proud that we have succeeded to recuperate and bring things to standard.
As we return to normalcy, one among our top priorities is finalising our affiliation to ZCTU which has always been our dream. For the foregoing, we seek your guidance as to whether we need to start afresh the process we had done in 2007 or we simply respond to requirements in your attached letter.
ALSO TAKE NOTICE that we have since moved from No. 90 A Zim- Rights House to No, 43 Julius Nyerere Way , Crossroads Building , Harare .
Also accept our heartfelt gratitude for the solidarity you gave us during the period when we and others were callously incarcerated by the regime and charged with treason. We had two of our members involved.
Looking forward to hearing from you soon

..............................................
M Sambo ( General Secretary )

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STEP TOWARDS NEC

MEMO
TO : ALL EMPLOYEES IN THE PRIVATE MEDICAL AND ALLIED
INDUSTRY
FROM : GENERAL SECRETARY, MEDICAL PROFFESSIONAL & ALLIED
WORKERS UNION

On behalf of the entire executive committee of MPAWUZ, l write to announce to you that the long pull is nearing an end .Most of us have since 2009 November been assiduously pushing for establishment of a National Employment Council specific for the Private Medical and Allied industry as a way of lessening problems we currently face in the industry. You may be in the know that the only stumbling block had been need for change of name and variation of scope of coverage for the Employers` organization to include all sectors in the private medical industry, a process that has already been undertaken, see Government gazette of 8 April 2011. This is a sign that we are moving.
After this and should there be no objections to the notice within thirty days, which is our prayer, we will then proceed to register our NEC hopefully in May 2011.
In this regard, MPAWUZ is humbled by the untiring support and commitment it continues to get from members who have all came a long way only to see horizons by doorstep now .To non-members we now call you all to join the union and work together on this worthwhile task.

Thank you

MPAWUZ GENERAL SEC
M Sambo ( 0772908847, 04704209) mpawuz@gmail.com

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What is exploitation

at Monday, May 17, 2010

The term “exploitation” typically conjures up images of horrendous working conditions , perhaps on farms , mines , building sites or child labour . We think of people working long hours for little pay in terrible conditions ruthlessly bullied by unscrupulous bosses or vana musiyamwa.

Such “exploitation” is presented to us as exceptional and contrasted with the “normality” of working life for most people .

There is a different understanding of exploitation . Rather than seeing it as exceptional , exploitation is fundamental to capitalism .

Exploitation is not just about the level of wages received , or working conditions but is the very process whereby capitalism creates profits out of the work we do. In order to understand this meaning of exploitation we need start by understanding explanation of where profits ultimately come from , what Karl Marx termed “labour theory of value”

Marx argued that human labour is the source of all value – he argued that the amount of amount of valued created by people when they work in greater than the amount they receive back in wages .Therefore the capitalist in stealing from workers some of the value that their labour has created .The ‘’surplus value’’ forms the basis of profit .They generally accept that the world of work involves an equitable exchange “a fair day’s pay for fair day’s work .If anything we are told that workers are being ‘’greedy’ ’when they demand pay increases over and above what is considered ‘’fair’’. Such ‘’selfish’’ pay demands risk the ‘’health of the whole economy’’ ,they claim.

Fair’s fair?

The ideology of ‘’free and fair exchange ‘’masks the exploitation built into the capitalist system .It hides the exploitation that goes on every day in a society where tiny minority of people make vast profits out of the work done by the majority .For most human history people had worked primarily for their own consumption .They produced things that met their needs directly , whether it was food grown on their land or clothes they made at home. In contrast , capitalism is all about commodity production- things are produced not for immediate use but as commodities to be sold on the market.

Commodities do have to be of some use eventually , but they have to be exchanged for money before the producers can get any benefit from their efforts. Therefore all commodities have an “exchange value”. Their price reflects this exchange value.

But how is this exchange value determined? One thing all the different commodities bought and sold under capitalism have in common is that they are all products of human labour .It is this that provides the basis for exchange.

In previous societies , before money was universally used, people would swap or batter items with one another. How much or how little was exchanged would generally depend on how long people had taken to make the items.

Two people would only swap items if they felt it had taken roughly the same amount of time for each to make their items- otherwise it would not seem like a fair deal .It was not just an exchange of items that had taken place but an exchange of the labour time of the people involved. The method of batter trade is obliviously very time consuming and inefficient .As commodity production increased , the use of money became more important as a way of equating different products .Previously one table may have been swapped for two chairs based on the amount of labour time used. Now one table maybe equal $10 , and therefore one chair would equal $5.

The price charged still reflects the amount of labour time gone into making the product, but the use of money –since it can be exchanged for any commodity – cuts out the need for direct exchange between producers. Money allows us to equate things that seem to have nothing in common, in terms of materials , how they have been made or their actual use. Because of things money appears to be the goal of production under capitalism. Acquiring it often feels like our own personal goal , since it will enable us to buy the things for a better life .Therefore it can seem like money is the source of value.

But money only has value to the extent that it gives you a claim on the labour of others. If you had stacks of money but nothing was being produced , then it would be no use.

It is the common element of human labour that allows us to measure how much a particular commodity should be sold for on the market. And it is this that determines their value. The price of a commodity reflects the labour time needed to produce it.

So far it still seems as if everyone is on a more or less equal footing. But if all commodities are exchanged according to amount of labour needed to produce them , where does profit come from?

The answer lies in the relationship between the capitalist and the wage labour. Our Capitalism, our ability to work our “labour power”-also a commodity to be bought and sold like everything else. This is not a secrete . We talk of joining the “labour market” after finishing education . We try to make ourselves more “marketable” to employers .

Workers ell their ability to work(their labour power) to a particular employers or capitalist for an agreed price(wage) .our labour power is extremely useful to the capitalist since it is able to create all sorts of products.

But how is its exchange value determined? The price of labour power is determined just like that of any other commodity. It depends on the amount of labour required to produce it. Now behind the term labour power lies a human being, although the capitalists often like to forget this . So workers get paid enough money to keep them going. You get enough money for food, the cost of your rent, clothing and enough rest time to enable you to arrive at work each morning able to put in the required amount of effort and attention .

So what determines wages is the cost of living in a society .You go to work where you create products for the capitalist. In turn you get money- your wage- with which you buy the different things you need to survive, products that have themselves been created by other people`s labour .This still seems quite fair , since you get paid the amount needed to cover your cost of living. But there is a difference between the amount you are paid for your labour power and the value that your labour creates when you work. For example, it may only take four hours of society`s total labour to produce the things that you and your family require. So by lunchtime , you have covered your wages and by rights you have to go home .But you do not stop work in the afternoon and perhaps do an eight hour day .If four hours of your has created enough value to pay your wages , then the capitalist takes the next four hours of work from you for nothing.

In this example the capitalist is able to pocket a “surplus” of four labour hours a day from each worker. This is what is called “surplus value” which is the source of profits.

Your labour creates more value than we need for our labour power. So exploitation is not an anomaly under capitalism – it is part of the normal workings of the system.

But there is another side to exploitation .The problem for capitalists is that when they buy labour power , what they get are people who can think and act for themselves . Most of people do not go into work thinking that their wages should just cover the minimum required to enable them to keep on working another day. Instead we look at the tremendous wealth in society and think- rightly – that we are entitled to a better standard of living. So there is a continual struggle over the cost of labour power. Battles over pay break out regularly , especially at times when the real cost of living is going up.

If exploitation is crucial to capitalism , the logical conclusion is that an end to exploitation would require an end to capitalism .All the day to day battles over pay and conditions represents more limited battles against exploitation.

If we win some of these battles, it gives us the confidence and strength to win more. It also helps us to win the battle of ideas to convince others that we have to get rid of the whole system .

END

Part of Political economy the Union teaches to members .

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Join Us

You work in the following private medical centres

· The ambulance

· Hospitals / Clinics

· Medical Aid Societies

· Medical Laboratories

· Pharmacies

· Trauma units

· Radiology

· Emergency units

· Dental clinics

· Optometry units

· Physiotherapist

And you belong to a union not MPAWUZ then you are in the wrong Union .Call on numbers below for your rightful Union

04-704209, 0912908847, 0912835684 & 0912672446

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Vigorous recruiting

at Saturday, February 27, 2010

In the last week of February we have had two very successful meetings .On Thursday the 25th of February we had a meeting in Bulawayo at Mater dei hospital where the General Secretary attended and on Friday the 26th February again we had a meeting at Baines Avenues Clinic after we had postponed it from Wednesday to allow the General sectretary to go to Bulawayo and come back for the meeting.
Many workers are joining our union now with a fighting spirit .
At Netsar Ambulance services where the management had tried by all means possible to stop workers from joining the union we have again managed to recruit members .
We are managing all this on a veru tight budget since most bosses are resisting to remit members subscriptions to the union .

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MPAWUZ Goes to Bulawayo

at Tuesday, February 23, 2010

This Coming Thursday the General secretary will have an opportunity to address medical workers in Bulawayo.
This has always been a challenge to us trying to penetrate to areas away from Harare but this trip is sponsored by colleagues from the Graphical Workers Union who shall be driving there . Meetings shall be at Mate dei clinic on Thursday 1pm and Gweru Friday on our way back .
Meanwhile the GS and other executive members will be addressing workers at Baines Avenues Clinic on Wednesday at 1pm before the GS leaves for Bulawayo .
All other workers on other centres in Bulawayo are advised to attent the meeting as we seek to recruit the entire region.

GS

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Routine meetings

at Thursday, February 18, 2010

Our routine Wednesday meetings after work shall continue and we hope this coming Wednesday we shall broaden participation to allow mobilisation for our regional meeting which we have penciled for the first week of March .

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