This is because the United States withdrew Swaziland’s trading privileges under the Africa Growth Opportunities Act (AGOA).
Swaziland had previously been able to export to the
United States without having to pay tariffs. This privilege ended on 1 January
2015.
In the six months since, at least 3,000 jobs have
been lost in the textile industry, dominated by Taiwanese companies.
The Observer
Sunday, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati reported the job losses and the difficulties faced by workers
who had been retrenched or laid-off. But, it did not make the connection
between the plight of the former workers and King Mswati’s refusal to give up
his power in the kingdom of 1.2 million people.
All political parties are banned
from taking part in elections, the King chooses the Prime Minister and the
government and the top judges. All public discussion for democratic reforms is
crushed by police and state forces and democrats languish in prison in
remand awaiting trial on sedition charges under the Suppression of Terrorism
Act.
The King has a personal stake in great swathes of
the Swazi economy and he uses dividends and royalties from these to finance a
lavish lifestyle which includes a private luxury jet aircraft, a fleet of
top-of-the-range Mercedes and BMW cars and at least one Rolls Royce. He also
has 13 palaces in his kingdom which is about the same size as the US state of New
Jersey.
Meanwhile, seven in ten of his subjects live in
abject poverty with incomes of less than US$2 per day. More than a third of the
population rely on international food aid in any given year.
The Observer Sunday reported this week (31 May 2015), ‘The loss
of AGOA, effectively at the beginning of this year, resulted in two major textile
factories closing down. These are Tex Ray and Leo Garments. Knitwear also
closed down but for less than a month as they re-opened a few weeks later.
‘Close to 3,000 lost their jobs when these
factories closed shop a few months ago. Some of these were fortunate as they
managed to get employment in other factories while others migrated to South
Africa. However, a majority of these workers were left unemployed and had to
seek alternative employment.
‘About five factories have conducted these
lay-offs, which have seen a number of workers sitting at home without getting
paid. The factory owners have attributed these lay-offs to non-availability of
a market for their products. Some of the factories include Union Washing, Kasum
Investments, New Life and Kang-Fa at Siteki.’
The Observer interviewed some of the workers. One of them said, ‘The money
we earn is very little and it being deducted means nothing but poverty for most
of us.’
Another said, ‘We have really suffered because of
this issue and are hoping that government will meet all the requirements needed
for us to get it back. Our lives were turned upside down and some of us had to
relocate and find much smaller houses to rent because I could no longer afford
the two-room I rented before.
‘We are also being subjected to degrading treatment
from our employers. What is saddening however is that we have, through our
union, tried to engage labour officials but there isn’t much that has been done
to address our concerns.’
The
US had wanted
Swaziland
to implement the full passage of amendments to the Industrial Relations Act;
full passage of amendments to the Suppression of Terrorism Act; full passage of
amendments to the Public Order Act; full passage of amendments to sections 40
and 97 of the Industrial Relations Act relating to civil and criminal liability
to union leaders during protest actions; and establishing a code of conduct for
the police during public protests.
In
June 2014, announcing
the withdrawal of AGOA, a White House spokesperson said, ‘The decision to withdraw Swaziland’s AGOA eligibility comes after years
of engaging with the Government of the Kingdom of Swaziland on concerns about
its implementation of the AGOA eligibility criteria related to worker rights.’
The statement said after an ‘extensive review’ the
US, ‘concluded that Swaziland had not demonstrated progress on the protection
of internationally recognized worker rights. In particular, Swaziland has
failed to make continual progress in protecting freedom of association and the
right to organize. Of particular concern is Swaziland’s use of security forces
and arbitrary arrests to stifle peaceful demonstrations, and the lack of legal
recognition for labor and employer federations.
US Trade Representative Michael
Froman, said, ‘The withdrawal of AGOA benefits is not a decision
that is taken lightly.
‘We have made our concerns very clear to Swaziland
over the last several years and we engaged extensively on concrete steps that
Swaziland could take to address the concerns. We hope to continue our
engagement with the Government of the Kingdom of Swaziland on steps it can take
so that worker and civil society groups can freely associate and assemble and
AGOA eligibility can be restored.’
See also
SWAZI
HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD KILLS AGOA
AGOA PROPAGANDA FROM KING’S NEWSPAPER
PM
MISLEADS ON AGOA PROGRESS
PM WRONG ON AGOA IMPACT
No comments:
Post a Comment