Government Downplays Effects of National Strike

The government played down the effects of a national strike that paralyzed the economy for a second day as union leaders proclaimed success, insisting that 90% of workers stayed away from their jobs.

The strike was organized by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions to protest President Robert Mugabe’s economic policies and a 70% gasoline price increase that was imposed by the government.

State radio and ruling party militants declared the action a failure, but streets in main cities throughout the southern African nation were nearly deserted and most factory parking lots empty.