Eswatini Labour Insight

ATUSWA Secretary General Comrade Wander Mkhonza addressing the IndustriALL Mid Term Policy Conference in Capetown ,South Africa (Picture courtesy of IndustriALL) Written by Fundizwi Sikhondze  The Amalgamated Trade Union of Swaziland (ATUSWA) Secretary General Comrade Wander Mkhonza ,on Tuesday 20th June 2023, addressed the midterm policy conference of the IndustriALL Global Union currently sitting in Cape Town, South Africa where he called for more attention to be bestowed to the repressed workers in Swaziland by the global union. ATUSWA together with the Swaziland Electricity Supply and Maintenance Workers Union (SESMAWU) are the two Swaziland affiliates of the IndustriALL Global Union. Secretary General Wander drew the conference's attention to the repression that workers face in Swaziland through state repression as well as through the courts. He credited the notorious 1973 decree as the source of the repression in the country to the extent that even when laws are crafted ...

  Eswatini Prime Minister Sipho Cleopas Dlamini addressing the ILO World of Work Summit during the International Labour Conference 2023 in Geneva Switzerland (Picture credit ILO). Eswatini Prime Minister criticises the ILO unequal governance and one size fits all approach to tackling challenges The Prime Minister Cleopas Sipho Dlamini, on Thursday 15 th June 2023, addressed the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) World of Work Summit in Geneva, Switzerland. The summit formed a part of the ILO’s International Labour Conference which ends on the 16 th June and the summit’s theme was “Social Justice For All”. In his address Prime Minister Dlamini firstly welcomed the initiative seeking to strengthen partnerships and enhance collaborations and cooperation between the ILO, its tripartite constituents (Employers, Governments and Workers), the wider United Nations multi-lateral system and other allied partners in order to promote policy coherence in the quest for social justic...

  Written by Fundizwi Sikhondze - Publishing Editor The annual International Labour Organisation's (ILO) International Labour Conference (ILC) kicked off in Geneva, Switzerland on Monday 05 June 2023. The Eswatini government being one of the governments of high interest having been condemned to the special paragraph list of countries that habitually contravenes the international labour standards seems to have pulled all stops to ensure they defend against any move to condemn the country into the special paragraph this time around. The government delegation comprises of fourteen officials ,interestingly inclusive of two legal advisors in the form of one David Millin from the kings office and Zandile Dlamini who is accredited as the Deputy Attorney General. The Prime Minister Sipho Cleopas Dlamini (as a 15th member) is also said to be on the way to the conference after completing his mission at the COMESA conference. The complete Eswatini delegation comprises of Government representa...

Written by Fundizwi Sikhondze (Publishing Editor) Standard Bank Eswatini workers ,who are members of the  Swaziland Union of Financial and Allied Workers (SUFIAW), are set to embark on a legal strike action commencing on Monday 22 May 2023 countrywide. The strike comes after the failure by Standard Bank Eswatini (the bank) and SUFIAW (the union) to reach an agreement on pay increases at the bank.  The Times of Eswatini Sunday (21-05-2023) reported that at the negotiations table Standard Bank Eswatini is currently offering SUFIAW members a wage increment of 5.2% while SUFIAW is demanding 8.5% increment. So far none amongst the two parties has shown inclination meet the other halfway. In the same report the bank has expressed that they hope the grievance can be resolved before Monday ,the commencement date of the strike action.   The same newspaper report indicated that a process of balloting for the strike action had been done in compliance with the labour laws of the...

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Picture: TUCOSWA Secretary General Mduduzi Gina (holding microphone) addressing the  workers day rally at Mayaluka in the east of Eswatini. Written by Fundizwi Sikhondze Making his address to the 30 000 plus workers gathered at the Workers Day 2023 rally at Mayaluka Stadium in Bigbend the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) Secretary General Mduduzi Gina declared that even though workers are fully involved in the struggle for attainment of a fully democratic Eswatini (together with the rest of the MDM) they will however not grant political parties a blank cheque to govern to the disadvantage of workers but workers support the struggle for democracy on the understanding that they will get better conditions of work in the democratic dispensation. The Secretary General also emphasised to workers not to outsource the struggle for the attainment of democracy as it needed them to be fully involved. He added that the struggle for democracy is a legitimate struggle for workers. He ...

Written by Fundizwi Sikhondze News coming in reveals that there is a strong likelihood that the University of Eswatini (UNESWA) pay dispute may come to an end today 03 May 2023. The dispute had led to a strike action ,that has been ongoing going on for two months (from 8th March 2023) leading to the closure of UNESWA (all academic activities) throughout the period of the strike action. Sources with intimate knowledge of the deliberations have confirmed to the Eswatini Labour Insight (ELI) that from Friday 28th April 2023 there has been steady progress in the negotiations aimed at ending the strike action at UNESWA. The current strike action came about when unions and UNESWA management deadlocked in negotiations about increments in notches (levels) within the pay grades. Workers organisations ,the Association of Lecturers ,Academic and Administrative Personnel (ALAAP) as well as the National Workers Union in Swaziland Higher Institutions (NAWUSHI) had been called for notch increases dat...