Times Of Swaziland: SCHOOLS OPENING IN LIMBO  AS MAJOR STRIKE LOOMS

SCHOOLS OPENING IN LIMBO  AS MAJOR STRIKE LOOMS
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 BY SIBUSISO ZWANE on 03/01/2018 01:02:00


MANZINI – The smooth opening of schools may be disturbed as a major civil
servants’ strike is on the cards.
This comes after public sector associations (PSAs) took the ongoing
cost-of-living adjustment impasse to CMAC.
The two parties; PSAs which represent civil servants in the matter and
Government Negotiation Team (GNT), are set to face each other before the
Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration Commission (CMAC) next week Thursday.
Should a certificate of unresolved dispute be issued, the PSAs have vowed to
take to the streets.
Schools, on the other hand, are scheduled to open for the first term on January
23, 2018, a week after the CMAC ruling.
The new developments in the matter were revealed by the Swaziland National
Association of Teachers (SNAT) President, Freedom Dlamini, in the
organisation’s New Year statement which was released by the Secretary General,
Zweli Mndzebele, yesterday.
Meanwhile, the National Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU)
President, Aubrey Sibiya, confirmed that the matter would be before CMAC and
said a major strike action was imminent if they failed to reach common ground
with government.
He explained that should they fail to reach a consensus with government, the
commission would issue a certificate of unresolved dispute and they would
definitely go to balloting and a strike action would follow if members would
vote for it.
“I don’t see ourselves going back to the round table because we left due to
lack of progress. The only thing that can make us go back there is to sign an
agreement that our demand has been met,” he said.
However, Sibiya said as unions, they loved the country and respected the King.
He said they believed in dialogue to sort out issues but because government was
not willing to use that method as it had repeatedly ignored all their efforts
when they persuaded it to cooperate on the round table.