Times Of Swaziland: UK unionists jet into SD

UK unionists jet into SD
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 MBONGISENI NDZIMANDZE  on 21/05/2012 00:00:00


MBABANE – The deregistration of the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland
(TUCOSWA) continues to attract international concern as unionists from the
United Kingdom and Holland have travelled to meet with local labour
unions’ representatives.
A meeting between the unionists and the local labour unionists who formed part
of the executive of deregistered TUCOSWA was reportedly held at The George Hotel
yesterday.
During the meeting, the unionists are said to have offered the locals support in
their bid to contend the deregistration.
President of TUCOSWA, Mduduzi Gina, said the reason for the meeting was out of
concern to discuss issues touching on TUCOSWA which was recently deregistered by
government.
"The unionists from the United Kingdom and Holland are currently in the country
to meet our affiliates from the public service sector which include the
Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SDNU)," he said.
He said they would continue being in constant communication with the unions as
they have pledged to help them.
He said during the meeting the unionists from the two countries pledged to
continue supporting them in all their plans.
"They also wanted to know the status of TUCOSWA in Swaziland. They also promised
to assist us in all our plans," he said.
Gina said the unionists would also be meeting their affiliates in the public
sector to discuss a number of issues.
He disclosed that last week they also met with members of the Southern African
Trade Unions Coordination Council (SATUCC) where government was also present.
He said SATUCC advised government to sign a Memorandum of Agreement with TUCOSWA
as it was discovered that most of the unions and organisations in the country
were registered under Section 27 of the Industrial Relations Act.
TUCOSWA was deregistered by government in a move widely seen as an attempt to
silence the organisation.
TUCOSWA was born out of the amalgamation of the then Swaziland Federation of
Labour (SFL) and the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU) and
subsequently joined by the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT).
However, the Attorney General (AG), Majenkhaba Dlamini, advised the Commissioner
of Labour that TUCOSWA was improperly registered and this led to the
deregistration of the federation. This is further confirmed in a letter dated
April 2, 2012, written by the AG which was addressed to the secretary general of
the organisation.
The AG in the letter stated that it had come to his attention that the
Commissioner of Labour registered the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland as a
federation under Section 27 of the Industrial Relations Act, 2000.
"Be advised that a proper reading of Section 27 and 29 of the Industrial Act
reveals that your entity/federation was erroneously registered by reason that
the provisions relate only to registration of organisations," he stated.
 
Since then unionists from across the world have expressed their concern over the
manner the deregistration occurred.
There have also been calls for TUCOSWA to be re-registered.
Minister Lutfo warns unions
MBABANE – The Minister of Labour and Social Security Lufto Dlamini has
warned the unions against having any meetings with organisations which have not
informed government of their mission.
He said in this particular case government was not aware of the meeting between
the two parties when called for comment yesterday afternoon.
The minister who is currently in Qatar attending a series of meetings said any
organisation which comes into the country to discuss certain issues has to
follow the protocol.
"Any organisation or union that comes into the country for any meeting must
first inform government through the relevant ministry. There is protocol that
has to be observed before they come into the country," Dlamini said.
He said a week ago they were visited by members of the Southern African Trade
Union Co-ordination Council (SATUCC) which is the main regional trade union
organisation in SADC. 　
The minister said before coming into the country they first wrote a letter to
the Ministry of Labour and Social Security seeking permission and they were
granted.
"I am not aware of this meeting as nothing was formally communicated with the
ministry. Any members of an organisation or union who come into the country have
to ask for permission from government and state their agenda," Dlamini said
The minister said they do not know the agenda of the unionists who are reported
to be in the country and he personally believed they have come for other things
not issues touching on TUCOSWA.
He said during the meeting with SATUCC members, he advised them on how they
could resolve the issue of TUCOSWA.
The minister said unionists should stop having meetings with people who are not
known by government and instead they must tell the workers the advice that
SATUCC gave on how the impasse between government and TUCOSWA can be solved.
 
He said people should stop using the name of workers to push their own agendas
as this portrayed a bad picture of the country to the outside world.