SWAZILAND UNIONS CALL OFF PROTESTS

Swazi Observer

31 October 2011

SOURCE

Unions call off protest action

IN light of a court order obtained by government, unions have called off the protest march which was scheduled for tomorrow (1 November 2011) until Saturday.

Instead, the executive of all the labour unions; Swaziland National Association of Teachers, Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions as well as Swaziland Federation of Labour would deliver petitions to the High Court and the ministry of labour.

Secretary General of the Labour Coordinating Council, Muzi Mhlanga said they received a court order yesterday, which was brought by police officers.

Mhlanga was responding to Minister of Labour and Social Security, Lutfo Dlamini’s statement, where he pleaded with the unions to respect the court order which was issued on Friday.

Organised labour wanted to march over the delay by government to address the judicial crisis, the failure to address workers’ concerns on the tender board processes as well as what unions termed “relocation” of Tibiyo and Tisuka TakaNgwane.

The minister said: “I wish to strongly advise workers not to participate in the upcoming protest action. It is unlawful and, therefore, not protected. Each worker should consider the implications of such an unlawful action.”

The minister spoke during a press conference, which he called yesterday afternoon.

Dlamini stated that the employers were also advised about the ruling of the court. He said if unions would defy the court order it would mean there was no rule of law.

The court order reads: “The intended protest action cannot be referred to as protected or lawful if the requirements of Section 40 have not been complied with.

The effect of the court order of October 28th, 2011 is that the respondents are interdicted or barred from going on with the intended protest action until the Labour Advisory Board properly constituted in terms of the Industrial Relations Act, 2000 (as amended) attends to the issues referred to it respondents within seven working days mentioned in the court order of the 28th October 2011.”

…Instead, they call night vigil for tonight

LABOUR has called a mass prayer which is expected to be held at the Roman Catholic Church in Mbabane tonight.

Secretary General of the Labour Coordinating Council, Muzi Mhlanga said everyone was welcome to the prayer.

He said after this, the executive of the, Swaziland National Association of Teachers, Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions as well as Swaziland Federation of Labour would deliver a petition to the High Court and the ministry of labour.

Some of the things the unions are complaining about are; government’s continued inability to meet the demand for the relocation of Tibiyo TakaNgwane and TisukaTakaNgwane, the judicial crisis and the failure by government to address the workers’ concerns on the tender board and the processes.

However, Mhlanga said they had since withdrawn the issue of the tender board because the ministry was still engaging them on it.

Unions had called a mass protest from tomorrow until Saturday but government acquired a court order which stopped the march. Civil society was expected to participate in the march.
Mhlanga said every member of the public was welcome at the mass prayer, which is expected to be held tonight until tomorrow morning.

Unions’ grievances not receivable – Lutfo

THE grievances submitted to the Labour Advisory Board (LAB) were not receivable and were thus rejected.

This was because workers did not mention any steps they had taken to solve the issues before embarking on a protest.

The Minister of Labour and Social Security, Lutfo Dlamini in a press conference yesterday said “the Labour Advisory Board at its meeting rejected all the notices, stating that they did not meet the key requirements of Section 40.”

The issues the unions wanted to march over included the delay by government in addressing the judicial crisis, failure to address workers’ concerns on the tender board and the processes and government’s inability to meet the “relocation” of Tibiyo and Tisuka TakaNgwane.

The minister said they were willing to meet the unions and discuss these issues with them.
He mentioned that the Minister of Justice and Constitutional affairs, Mgwagwa Gamedze was addressing the issue of the judicial crisis.

“Let the minister deal with this issue until such time that he says he has failed then we can involve ourselves,” said the minister.

Dlamini also noted that in a meeting the Labour Advisory Board had recently with the unions, a non-gazetted member was present.

He said the workers stated that this was an alternate member. “Our view as government is that the tripartite structure has joint custody of all employment and industrial relations regulations. To have a partner in the structure deliberately defeating the effective operations of such an important structure as the Labour Advisory Board brings to question the good faith that the partner brings to such a meeting,” said the minister.

The Secretary General of the Labour Coordinating Council, Muzi Mhlanga said the member did not know they were going to meet the Labour Advisory Board.

See also

SWAZI GOVT TRIES TO STOP MASS PROTESTS

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/10/swazi-govt-tries-to-stop-mass-protests.html

SWAZI COURT HALTS MASS PROTEST

Times of Swaziland

31 October 2011

SOURCE

Court stops unions protest action

MBABANE - The Industrial Court has issued an order stopping labour unions from proceeding with the protest action which was to begin tomorrow (1 November 2011).

The order, which was issued on Saturday, clarifies another order which had been issued on October 28, 2011, when the court had ruled that the unions should meet with the Labour Advisory Board within seven days to discuss the three issues they had submitted to the board.

The unions, after this ruling, indicated that they were to proceed with their protest action as the judge did not expressly interdict them from continuing with the protest action.

This prompted government to go back to court to seek clarity on the conflicting interpretations of the ruling. Industrial Court Judge Nkosinathi Nkonyane clarified the ruling by stating that;

"The effect of the court order of October 28, 2011 is that the respondents are interdicted or barred from going on with the intended protest action until the Labour Advisory Board properly constituted in terms of the Industrial Relations Act attends to the issues referred to it by the respondents within seven working days mentioned in the court order of October 28, 2011."

The order also states that the intended protest action cannot be referred to as ‘protected’ or ‘lawful’ if the requirements of Section 40 have not been complied with. Furthermore, in a matter in which government was represented by Tholi Vilakati, with no appearance from the unions, the judge ruled that the order was to be served on the respondents yesterday, between 7am and 7pm.

Service of the order was to be made on the respondents wherever they may be found and police were to assist in the service of the order.

The respondents in this matter are the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT), the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions (SFL) and the Swaziland Federation of Labour (SFTU).

The Minister of Labour and Social Security Lutfo Dlamini advised workers not to participate in the proposed protest action, as it is unlawful and not protected.

He said each worker should consider the implications of such an unlawful action.

Dlamini added that if the protest action was to proceed after the order of the court, it would mean there is lawlessness in the country, as orders of the court are not adhered to. He also urged the unions to help give the justice minister a chance to solve the judicial crisis.

See also

SWAZI GOVT TRIES TO STOP MASS PROTESTS

http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2011/10/swazi-govt-tries-to-stop-mass-protests.html

SWAZI UNIONISTS ILLEGALLY HELD

Times of Swaziland

16 May 2011

SOURCE

Police detain 10 unionists

SITEKI – Ten unionists were on Saturday detained by police after they were found holding a meeting which the police declared illegal.

The unionists were meeting in the Swaziland National Association of Teachers’ offices.

The meeting which was due to start at 9 am eventually took off at 10 am only to be disrupted by the police shortly thereafter.

The union officials were taken to the Lubombo Police Regional Headquarters, where they were kept for an hour before being released.

The unionists were from SNAT, the Swaziland Federation of Labour (SFL) and the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU). According to people who were present at the scene, the 15 police officers on this particular operation arrived aboard four vehicles. Six of the officers are then said to have entered the offices and found the meeting in progress.

Barnes Dlamini, President of the SFTU was also present.

The police disrupted the meeting a few minutes after Dlamini’s arrival.

"There were 15 of them and they were armed," said Sifiso Mabuza, who is part of SNAT executive committee at branch level.

According to Musa Sifundza, the Secretary of SNAT at branch level, the officers wanted to know who the chairman of the meeting was.

Dlamini was fingered as the chairperson. Dlamini is then said to have been questioned on the purpose of the meeting. The police also wanted the names of all those present.

"We were then taken to the police headquarters where we were detained for about one hour before they released us," said Mabuza.

Mabuza said while at the police station, they were kept in the conference room.

He said they were not interviewed but Dlamini had been interviewed earlier. He said after an hour they were released but elected not to continue with the meeting as they could not guarantee the safety of their members.

Dlamini could not be reached for comment yesterday as his mobile phone rang unanswered.

...meeting was illegal – police

SITEKI – The Royal Swaziland Police has said the meeting which was interrupted by the police on Saturday was illegal.

Inspector Steven Dlamini, the police assistant Public Relations Officer, said the unions did not report to police that they would be holding such a meeting.

He said police also learnt that some of the ‘members’ who attended the meeting were not real union members.

"The police received a call that there was an illegal meeting going on and surely enough, we found that some of the attendees were in fact not members of the said organisations," said Dlamini.

When asked why they were detained, Dlamini said the union members were not detained but were briefly interviewed and released.

"That was just 30 minutes. You wouldn’t call that an interrogation," said the assistant PRO.

‘Unions do not need police permission to hold meetings’

SITEKI – SNAT Secretary General, Muzi Mhlanga said labour unions do not need police permission to hold meetings.

Mhlanga was speaking after hearing that members of SNAT, SFTU, and SFL were detained by police after they were found holding a meeting at the Siteki SNAT offices.

According to police assistant Public Relations Officer, Inspector Steven Dlamini, the members did not seek permission to hold such a meeting, adding that some of the people present in the meeting were not union members. Mhlanga, however, said the meeting also incorporated other people who are being targeted to be unionised such as hawkers or street vendors and emphasized it was not a political meeting.

"If they want us to ask for permission then they are contradicting themselves as we follow the Industrial Relations Act. By saying we need permission, they are sending us back to the Public Order Act of 1963," said Mhlanga.

He condemned the action of showing up with guns referring to it as ‘intimidation’.

We will report this - NAPSAWU chief

SITEKI - Vincent Dlamini, the Secretary General for the National Public Service Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU), said the issue of unionists being detained would be reported to the international community.

"I will be attending an international labour conference and this is one of the issues we will report," said Dlamini. He accused the police of intimidation and said it is such action that shows that there is no freedom of association in the country. "These intimidation tactics are similar to those being employed in Zimbabwe," said Dlamini.

PUDEMO WELCOMES NEW UNION BODY

A statement from the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) – a banned organisation in Swaziland – congratulating the workers of Swaziland on the launch of the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA).

2 May 2011.

SOURCE

May 1 2011, the workers of Swaziland conducted the historical launch of a new workers federation in the country to incorporate the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU), Swaziland Federation of Labour (SFL) and Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT).

PUDEMO once again congratulates the workers for collectively taking this very progressive step to unite. We are conscious of the fact that this has been a longstanding dream that the workers had been working hard to realize. This is a dream founded on the revolutionary and international call by workers for “ONE COUNTRY ONE FEDERATION, ONE INDUSTRY ONE UNION.”

We are of the view that this new federation brings in a new dawn in the socio-political history of the country. Now the workers have a bigger and strong platform and vehicle to fight for their demands in the work place. This is a united platform on which the workers can now challenge and call for government to account on its socio-political decisions. But most importantly this structure shall equip the working class with a broader and united platform in the call for the inevitable transition from tinkhundla to a multiparty democratic system of governance in the country.

TUCOSWA must realize there is a long way to go and a lot of challenges that shall come their way. These challenges shall come from the regime which we are sure is not at all impressed with this development. It is therefore, of critical importance to stay alert and remain united to overcome the challenges. TUCOSWA must be conscious to the fact that with its formation, the oppressed and poor masses in the communities where workers originate, have firmly placed their hopes on them for their protection liberation and a better life.

VIVA TUCOSWA VIVA!

FORWARD WITH WORKER UNITY FORWARD!

FORWARD WITH WORKER POWER FORWARD!