Due to violations and arrests, an international report places Zimbabwe on a watch list for workers' rights.

Written by: Mohammed Omran

In a new indicator highlighting the decline in workers' rights globally, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has placed Zimbabwe on its “list Monitoring”In its annual report on the Global Rights Index for 2026, Zimbabwe was ranked in a move reflecting growing international concern about the work environment and trade union freedoms within the country. This ranking comes amid increasing accusations of deteriorating legal guarantees for workers and a rising pace of restrictions on trade union activity, including arrests and restrictions on workers' protests, which puts Zimbabwe under increasing international scrutiny regarding its commitment to basic labor rights standards.

The International Trade Union Confederation warns of escalating labor violations.

The watch list is the second worst ranking of countries in terms of labor rights violations, after the list of the ten worst countries that disregard these rights. In 2026, the first list included countries including Argentina, Belarus, Ecuador, Eswatini, Myanmar, Nigeria, Panama, Tunisia, and Turkey.

According to the report, Zimbabwe was placed among a group of seven countries, including Guinea-Bissau, Israel, Liberia, Moldova, the Philippines, and the United States, where workers' rights have declined significantly, reversing progress made in previous years.

The International Trade Union Confederation noted that cases of arbitrary arrest and detention of trade union members had been recorded in Zimbabwe, along with similar cases in Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The report also noted that Zimbabwe has ranked fifth, meaning “no guarantees of rights,” since the index began in 2014, pointing out that the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party is seeking to postpone the 2028 elections by extending the terms of the president and parliament.

With workers and unions continuing to face harassment and repression by the state, the report warned that Zimbabwe's ranking is likely to decline further.

He also pointed to the misuse of legal powers to suppress collective action and dissent, including the use of digital surveillance laws.

The organization added that education sector union leaders were arrested during strikes and protests demanding better working conditions and wages, noting that the government amended the law in 2025 to allow ministers to classify unions of a trade union or rights nature as “political” or “high risk”, which could lead to their deregistration and deprive them of international funding.

Countries are classified into groups from 1 to 5+ according to their commitment to collective labor rights, where classification (1) represents the best, while (5+) is the worst. Countries classified as (5) represent the worst work environment, as workers in them do not actually enjoy the rights stipulated despite the existence of legal texts, which exposes them to unfair work systems and repressive practices.

In contrast, the report noted that Zimbabwe is in the red zone, while neighboring Botswana has seen an improvement in its ranking following government reforms.