There’s nothing sweet about
the Swazi sugar sector
The
government of Swaziland, the last absolute monarchy of Africa, is well known
for its human rights violations, including the
rights of workers. In recent years, the International Labour Organization
(ILO) has admonished the government for its refusal to register trade unions,
for prohibiting assemblies and demonstrations and jailing
trade union activists and their lawyers, writes
Jeff Vogt.
Workers’
rights violations are so serious and widespread that the
United States suspended trade preferences to the country under the African
Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) in 2014. Despite minor steps taken to
respond to the criticism, such as registering the Trade Union Congress of
Swaziland (TUCOSWA) after a three-year delay and releasing imprisoned activists
a few weeks earlier than scheduled, the country remains a difficult place for
workers. This is particularly true in the sugar sector.
The
International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), in cooperation with TUCOSWA,
has released a new report – King Mswati’s
Gold – which details serious labour violations in Swaziland’s sugar sector.
Sugar is
one of the country’s most important exports, to the region and to the European
market. However, as detailed in the report, sugar largely benefits one person –
King Mswati III. The sector is largely controlled by a national development
fund, Tibiyo, which is controlled by the king, his relatives and his cronies,
even though it is meant to benefit all citizens.
The
report explains that for many workers, long hours and very low wages are the
norm. Most workers, especially those who are seasonal or casual, have no
written contracts of employment. Some workers have to walk hours each day to
and from work in the dark, and once they arrive they are forced to work in
dangerous conditions with little to no protective equipment – when applying
pesticides or cutting cane. Women are routinely subjected to pregnancy tests
and are not hired if tests are positive.
Additionally,
some of the land used for sugar production was confiscated by the government,
with little to no compensation for the communities forcibly expelled from their
land.
To our
disappointment, we also found that labour violations were just as common on the
Fairtrade
certified farms in Swaziland. The ITUC has shared a copy of the report and Fairtrade has
issued this reply.
We do
note that informal communications have indicated that Fairtrade will conduct an
investigation of their certified farms on the basis of this report. We hope and
trust that Fairtrade will take the appropriate action to ensure that certified
farms will comply with the labour obligations of the Small Producer
Organisation (SPO) standard, which applies to these farms.
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