Strikes and pickets 162. In accordance with section 104(1) of the Labour Act, all employees, workers’ committees and trade unions shall have the right to resort to collective job actions 104 to resolve disputes of interest. 105 However, pursuant to sections 9(g), 30(3)(a) and 104(3)(c), only a registered trade union can recommend or call for a collective job action. Furthermore, under section 9(f), no strike should be undertaken while a valid collective agreement is in force. 163. Strikes are prohibited in three circumstances: in essential services; in the case of a dispute of rights; and if the dispute is referred to arbitration (section 104(3)(a)). 106 Essential services are defined under the Labour Act to mean “any service the interruption of which endangers immediately the life, personal safety or health of the whole or any part of the public and that is declared by notice in the Gazette made by the Minister, after consultation with the appropriate advisory council, 107 if any, to be an essential service” (section 102). Any person who is aggrieved by any statutory instrument declaring any service or occupation to be an essential service may appeal against such notice to the Labour Court, which may vary or revoke the statutory instrument as it deems just (section 103). 164. Such a statutory instrument declaring essential services was issued in 2003. 108 Pursuant to the Labour (Declaration of Essential Services) Notice, the following services are essential: „ fire services (drivers, control room attendants, chief fire officers and assistants, divisional officers and supervisors of fighters and station officers); „ supply and distribution of water (pump operators, responsible for water treatment, plumbers, electricians and engineers); „ veterinary services (laboratory technologists and assistants, veterinary surgeons and doctors, persons employed in a disease surveillance unit, field branch personnel of the veterinary services department, animal health inspectors, veterinary livestock technicians and the head of field veterinary services, involved in the diagnosis and control of rabies, foot-and-mouth disease and anthrax and the control of locusts and army worm); 104 “Collective job action” is defined under section 2 of the Labour Act as “an industrial action calculated to persuade or cause a party to an employment relationship to accede to a demand related to employment, and includes a strike, boycott, lock-out, sit-in or sit-out, or other such concerted action”. 105 A “dispute of interest” is a dispute other than a “dispute of right”, defined as “any dispute involving legal rights and obligations, including any dispute occasioned by an actual or alleged unfair labour practice, a breach or alleged breach of the [Labour] Act or any regulations made under [the] Act, or a breach or alleged breach of any of the terms of a collective bargaining agreement or contract of employment” (section 2 of the Labour Act). 106 With regard to the prohibition of strikes during compulsory arbitration procedures for disputes, see also section 98(11) and (12). 107 An advisory council consisting of such persons as the Minister may deem fit, may be appointed by the Minister, either on his/her own initiative or on the recommendation of any employer or employee of any association representing employers or employees for the purpose of investigating and making recommendations as to the following: wages, salaries or benefits, the compilation of a list of arbitrators, the declaration of any service as an essential service, etc. (section 19). 108 52 Statutory Instrument No. 137. Meetings-2009-Zimbabwe C of I-2009-12-0035-3-En.doc/v3