A wave of
public service strikes is sweeping across Swaziland.
School
teachers who have been on indefinite strike for the past two weeks are expected
to be joined today (11 July 2012) by civil servants of the National Public
Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU) and the Swaziland Democratic Nurses
Union (SWADNU)
They are seeking
a 4.5 percent pay rise to meet the increase in the cost of living over the past
year.
Teachers of
the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) have been leading the way
in the protest and were subjected to teargas and rubber bullet attacks by
police as they attempted to protest peacefully.
The Swazi
Government successfully achieved a court order banning the strike, but some teachers
resolved to carry on. Now, the government is trying to get strikers’ leaders
jailed for contempt of court.
The strikes
are in response to government’s attempts to control public spending. The
International Monetary Fund has urged financial reforms in the kingdom before
Swaziland is allowed to go to the World Bank and African Development Bank for
loans to help pay bills while it restructures its economy.
Unions say workers
are being expected to take the brunt of the cuts. Government and members of parliament
are continuing to receive large salaries and expenses packages, despite the
call for spending cuts.
A total of
98 percent of NAPSAWU members who voted supported today’s strike. They are expected
to march in the Swazi capital Mbabane later. The union has not yet decided how
long the strike will last
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