Internal Labour Markets in Rhodesia: A Case Study of Management Responsibility

It is my contention in this paper that, at least in the company to be discussed, management’s claimed responsibility towards workers is not meant to apply — or to apply fully — to semi- and un-skilled workers, all of whom are black. In an attempt to prove this contention, I examine the internal labour market in one major Rhodesian company. Thereafter, I consider the degree of control management has over its internal labour market, and the extent and means whereby management meets its stated responsibility towards workers. In the conclusion, the various points are drawn together to demonstrate that management meets its responsibilities to workers on a differential basis, discriminating either against Africans or against semi- and un-skilled workers. Since these two categories overlap almost perfectly, it is difficult to establish whether the focus of this discrimination is race or industrial class.

A RJE case study on internal labour markets in the then Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).