SNAT CHANGES STRATEGY IN COLA FIGHT

MBABANE – If government is familiar with the conventional ways teachers use to raise their concerns, then it should brace itself.

Going forward, teachers will now engage new tactics and new strategies to send through any message of concern.
The review of tactics was prompted by a meeting that the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) had with United States Ambassador Lisa Peterson after the delivery of a petition on September 26, 2018.

SNAT Secretary General Sikelela Dlamini said, “What we appreciated the most with the Ambassador was opening her doors for a dialogue, which most recipients of a petition do not do.”

Talks

He said during the talks between the ambassador and the National Executive Committee (NEC) it clicked to them that it was time they looked into the ways they were using to push issues of concern.
“The trend is that we start at the negotiations table, often disagree, go to the Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration Commission (CMAC), and take to the streets or go to court.

“We have realised that as a 90-year-old organisation, some of the strategies we are using may no longer be applicable to date, hence the failure to yield the desired results,” he said.
Dlamini added that at the moment they were not in a position to divulge the new tactics even though they have been in communication with the SNAT leadership.

He did mention though that they would not substitute the entire existing methods but they will enhance them by adding different ones.
“We have scheduled an Annual General Meeting (AGM) for October 23, 2018 where we will discuss such issues.”

Ambassador

He said apart from being an eye-opener with regards to reconsidering the methods, the meeting with the American Ambassador also opened dialogue lines for the organisation.

When asked why they chose the American Embassy over others that are located in the country, Dlamini said that there was no specific reason besides that they were picky on the embassies that they chose.
“In 2012 we worked closely with the South African High Commission on issues similar to this one.”

Teachers have a long standing dispute with government following its reluctance to grant them a 6.55 per cent salary increase for two years in a row.
This started with salary negotiations where government tabled a 0.0 per cent salary increase.

The teachers then resolved to stage a mass strike action which rolled out over three days before government went to court to apply for an order to have it deferred to the last week of November when a new cabinet would be in place.

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