Administration staff at
Swaziland’s Institute
of Development Management say they
have been victimised because they want to join a trade union.
It came after they failed
to resolve continuing issues with management and decided to join the Swaziland
Union of Non-Academic Staff for Higher Institutions (SUNASHI).
According to a report in
the Sunday Observer (10 September
2017), ‘However, their decision has landed the members of staff on a collision
course with management, who have instituted disciplinary hearings against 10 of
the members who have attempted to join the union.’
The newspaper said according
to one of the employees at IDM, staff members tried three times to get the
union to address them before management called them to a disciplinary hearing,
‘and threatened to fire them for joining and holding meetings with the said
union’.
He said, ‘The actions of
IDM intimidate the employees to continue working in harsh, unfavourable and
oppressing conditions. At this point they are between a rock and a stone,
management refuses to hear them and refuses to allow them representation.’
In 2015, Swaziland was named as one of the ten worst countries for working people in the world, in a report
from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
The kingdom, ruled by King
Mswati III, the last absolute monarch in sub-Saharan Africa, was grouped
alongside some of the worst human rights violators in the world, including
Belarus, China, Colombia, Egypt, Guatemala, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the
United Arab Emirates.
The report called The
World’s Worst Countries for Workers,
reviewed the conditions workers faced during the previous year. Among the worst
cases in Swaziland the ITUC reported on the strike at the Maloma Mine which is partly owned by King Mswati.
It reported, ‘Some 250
workers went on strike on 24 November [2014], after the mine management refused
to negotiate over a US$72 housing allowance with the Amalgamated Trade Unions
of Swaziland (ATUSWA). All legal requirements were observed by the striking
workers, and even though the strike was peaceful, the workers were surrounded
by police equipped with riot shields, protective headgear, guns and teargas.
‘During the strike,
management refused the workers access to water, toilets and medical facilities.
Chancellor House, the investment arm of the ANC, owns 75 percent of the Maloma
mine, with the remaining 25 percent owned by the Tibiyo Taka Ngwane, a fund
controlled by King Mswati III, who is one of the world’s last remaining
absolute monarchs.’
Separately in 2015, the
International Labour Organization (ILO) told Swaziland it must stop interfering
in the activities of trade unions; ensure workers’ organizations were fully
assured of their rights and ensure they had the autonomy and independence they
needed to represent workers.
The ILO urged the Swaziland Government ‘without further delay’ among other matters to:
Ensure all workers’ and
employers’ organizations in the country are fully assured their freedom of association rights.
Ensure organizations are
given the autonomy and independence they need and fulfil their mandate and
represent their constituents. The Government should refrain from all acts of interference in the activities of trade unions;
Investigate arbitrary
interference by police in lawful, peaceful and legitimate trade union activities and hold accountable those
responsible.
See also
SWAZILAND
IN TOP TEN WORST FOR WORKERS
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