IT’S ALL SYTEMS GO AT SCHOOLS

MBABANE – No strike action will take place this week! This comes after the Industrial Court yesterday ruled that although the intended strike action by teachers was lawful, it should be deferred to November 23, 2018 to give the new government time to deal with SNAT’s demands. In the event they decide to strike after November 23, they are expected to give new notices.

On NAPSAWU which represents civil servants, the court found that its strike action was invalid due to insufficient time notice for the strike action. The strike action by civil servants was expected to resume today while that of teachers was set to start tomorrow and end Friday.

Out of the 3 635 civil servants who participated in the ballot, 3 593 voted in favour of the strike action while 25 voted against. Those in favour of the strike were above 50 per cent of the membership of NAPSAWU. Members of the two unions contended that they deserved to be awarded a cost-of-living-adjustment of 7.85 per cent.

The State averred that it could not be able to do so due to the fiscal and cash flow challenges. “Following the results that a majority of our members voted in favour of the strike action, this letter serves to give notice in terms of Section 86(8) of the Industrial Relations Act, 2000 as amended that the date of the intended strike is September 24, 2018,” reads part of the notice of strike action that has since been forwarded to government.

In the written notice, SNAT also stated that: “Following the results that a majority of our members voted in favour of the strike action, this letter serves to the give notice that the strike action is set to start on September 25, 26, 27 and 28.”
The order by the court comes after the State, through the Attorney General (AG) Sifiso Mashampu Khumalo, filed yet another urgent application in the Industrial Court.

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