"The Zimbabwe government's decision comes after the brutal suppression of a planned peaceful demonstration by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions"
Zimbabwe denied entry to a delegation of black U.S. trade unionists on Friday, the latest group of labor activists barred by President Robert Mugabe's government.
The AFL-CIO delegation had hoped to meet officials of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), which saw dozens of its members arrested and some badly beaten this month when police stopped them from marching to protest against low wages.
Bill Lucy, a member of the AFL-CIO executive council and head of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, said the seven members of the team had been stopped at passport control at Harare's international airport and told they were not welcome.
"(Zimbabwe's) security and police forces have to be condemned worldwide for this kind of harsh treatment," Lucy told a news conference in Johannesburg, adding that all members of the delegation had valid Zimbabwean visas.
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