Union members arrested

A strike by Zimbabwean postal and telecommunications workers entered a second week as police arrested three trade unionists for allegedly trying to rope in more protesters, an official said. Mlamleli Sibanda, a spokesperson for the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), said that the three men had been arrested in Zimbabwe's second city Bulawayo. According to hom, the police gave no reason for the arrests and have not pressed charges. The police were not immediately available to confirm the arrests. Sibanda said he believed the three were arrested for urging others to join the strike by workers at the state-run telephone and postal companies over unpaid pay increases agreed to in June. "The workers were awarded an increment in June this year. Since that time management has not affected that increment, saying they can't pay," said the union official. Sibanda claimed the strike had been widely followed with management having to fill in for absent workers throughout the southern African country. (News24, South Africa)