TEXTILE
WORKERS IN NHLANGANO TOWN ,ESWATINI VOW TO CONTINUE THEIR E15.00 AN HOUR STRUGGLE.
Fundizwi Sikhondze
Coordinator
02 May 2022
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.
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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