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TEACHERS TO HOLD MASS MEETING AFTER JUDGMENT AGAINST STRIKE

25/09/2018 08:56:00 BY SIBUSISO ZWANE

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MANZINI – The battle between government and SNAT/NAPSAWU over their intended mass strike action is far from over.

This is more so because the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) has since called a general council (GC) meeting today and an extraordinary teachers’ mass meeting tomorrow.
On the other hand, National Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU) national executive committee (NEC) will meet over the same issue today where they would discuss a way forward.

The latest developments were confirmed by SNAT outgoing Secretary General Zwelithini Mndzebele. He said both meetings emanate from the court judgment on government’s application for a court interdict, stopping the teachers’ intended strike action.
“The agenda for both meetings will be the court judgment,” Mndzebele said.
He said all members of the GC were expected to attend their meeting to be held at SNAT Centre at 10am today and that the members would be updated about the court judgment and its meaning.
Thereafter, Mndzebele said on Wednesday, all teachers, especially members of the union, were invited to an extraordinary general meeting to be held at SNAT Centre from 10am.

He said the aim of the meeting was to explain to the general membership on what this hullabaloo was all about. He said this would include explaining to the members why the union went to court in the first place.
“We will guide the members about what the court means and in turn, they will give us a mandate to implement going forward,” the outgoing secretary general said.
He said their emphasis as they interpret the court order to their members, would be on the fact that their intended strike action was legal.

Meanwhile, NAPSAWU President Aubrey Sibiya said they would only be in a position to comment further about the matter after their meeting today. He said it was the NEC meeting that would come with a way forward.
Interdict
Government ran to court seeking a court interdict that would stop both SNAT and NAPSAWU’s intended strike actions.
On Sunday the matter was heard at the Industrial Court and the judgment was that the industrial action proposed by SNAT was valid.

On the other hand, the court said the strike proposed by NAPSAWU was not valid due to insufficient notice as required by Section 86(8) of the Industrial Relations Act of 2000 as amended.
The court said the strike proposed by SNAT, though lawful, was deferred to November 23, 2018 to give the new government a chance to deal with the union’s demands.

Both unions want to lead their members in an industrial action over cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) for 2018/19 financial year. They are demanding 6.55 per cent but government offered them zero per cent.
In fact, this is the second consecutive year government offered civil servants zero per cent pay rise as it did so even last year where public sector associations (PSAs) first demanded 9.15 per cent salary increase. However, they slashed their demand to 8.75 per cent but government maintained its zero per cent offer.