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NHLANGANO GARMENT/TEXTILE WORKERS VOW TO FIGHT TILL THE END,NOT GOING BACK TO WORK

 

TEXTILE WORKERS IN NHLANGANO TOWN ,ESWATINI  VOW TO CONTINUE THEIR E15.00 AN HOUR STRUGGLE.

Fundizwi Sikhondze

Coordinator

02 May 2022

Textile workers in their mass meeting on 02 May 2022 at Tfokotani outside eNhlangano

Workers in the garment/textile sector today in eNhlangano, in the south of eSwatini/Swaziland, spoke unanimously that their strike action was continuing and therefore they were not going back to work until they were paid as per their demanded E15 per an hour. The workers are organised by the Amalgamated Trade Union of Swaziland (ATUSWA).

The estimated 1500 workers held their mass meeting on the grounds of the Tfokotane Community Centre a few kilometres away from the Mahamba border, with at least a few thousand of them having walked on foot from eight kilometres away in Nhlangano town. Despite their challenging circumstances having gone the first month without income the spirit of the workers was high as they chanted slogans to show their support of the resolution to continue with their struggle for a just a wage which they said the E15.00 per an hour would form the basis to but would certainly not be their last offer.

Hopes for a resolution dashed

In the aftermath of the workers day rally in Manzini on May the 1st, the president of TUCOSWA Bheki Mamba had dedicated a part of his speech at the workers day rally to discuss the strike. He then informed workers that the Labour Advisory Board, a statutory tripartite advisory body to the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, was scheduled to hold a meeting with both workers and employers in the textile industry in the morning of 02 May 2022 to try to resolve the issue. This meeting carried the hope that a resolution to the challenge would be found in the meeting.

However reliable sources have revealed that employers blatantly refused to attend the arranged meeting even as the person of the Minister of Labour and the ministry’s senior ministry officials were pleading with them to.    

The report hat the ATUSWA leadership led by Secretary General Wander Mkhonza was supposed to deliver to workers was expected to include these developments however in the end the way the developments unfolded meant that there was really no movement as far as employers are concerned, just increased threats for workers to return to work as soon as possible.

Secretary General of ATUSWA Wander Mkhonza addressing textile workers at Tfokotani Community Centre on 02 May 2022.

Workers spirits high

In true show of democratic worker control workers were encouraged to voice their perspective as to whether they think that the strike action should immediately be stopped  and they return to work tomorrow or they wanted to continue with their strike action until their goal of E15.00 per an hour has been realised.

Workers lined up in their numbers and not even one expressed doubt about the course they had taken to pursue their rights for a wage that would make them be able to feed their children. One worker informed the meeting that she was a single mother of two children going to high school and she was solely responsible for all their needs and therefore the money she was still earning was too low for her and their upkeep. Others pointed out their lives are the same with or without these low wages and the stoppage of wages because of No Work, No Pay had not affected them as much as many believe because given their low wages they always do not have money even when they get paid regularly anyway.

Speaker after speaker workers took turns explaining why the strike must continue, using a juxtaposition of personal circumstances and their understanding of the value their labour power has added to the bottom line of the employers who they unanimously accused of having amassed so much money from them that some have established other factories in countries such as South Africa.

The spirit shown by workers left an indelible impression that they are willing to fight till the end despite the constant harassment from the state, the employers and all the other hardships they are facing in their personal lives, for them the struggle is the only salvation.

 

 

 

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