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LABOUR PS TRYING TO CATCH A FALLING KNIFE

08/09/2019 00:00:00 BY TIMOTHY SIMELANE

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MBABANE – The dust that had settled is rising again. The Ministry of Labour and Social Security may have triggered another round of union wars by issuing perceived ‘contradictory’ statements to 17 major industries, four federations and concerned lawyers.

The first statement was issued by the Ministry through former Labour Commissioner Sipho Tsabedze, now Principal Secretary of Public Service, on July 29 informing them that a solution to the long dragging spat between the Swaziland Manufacturing and Allied Workers (SMAWU) and the Amalgamated Trade Unions of Swaziland (ATUSWA) had been found. A bulk of what the Labour Commissioner said was based on a judgment by the Court of Appeal in a case between SMAWU and ATUSWA.

In the statement, the former labour commissioner said he had taken time to study the conflict between SMAWU and ATUSWA and came up with the conclusion that (in summary form):

l ATUSWA was not an amalgamation but was registered as a parallel union to SMAWU.
l The Executive Office of SMAWU that was at the helm before the marathon court processes in 2016 should continue to hold fort until September 2020 when a new office would be elected. He said all shop stewards who were in office then should continue with their duties.

l All funds that were unlawfully withdrawn from the old bank account of SMAWU should be paid back with immediate effect.
l All funds paid unlawfully to ATUSWA by companies with recognition agreements with SMAWU should be paid back to SMAWU by those companies within 30 days from the date thereof.

In the latest incident, the Principal Secretary in the Ministry Thulani Mkhaliphi issued a statement with the same distribution list, stating that the pronouncements by the former labour commissioner would not be implementable.

alternative remedial actions

Instead, he charted the way for what he described as “intervention proceedings with a view to consider alternative remedial actions.”
He said: “It has since been drawn to the attention of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security that there are emerging difficulties regarding the implementation of some of the directives contained in the outcome of the interventions observed by some of the affected parties, both employers and employees, who have randomly voiced out their concerns to the ministry, either directly or through some of the registered federations.”

He said a bulk of such complains pointed to the difficulty to implement the labour commissioner’s pronouncements.
“In an effort to mitigate against the emerging complaints regarding the ‘implementability’ of the outcome of the intervention, the ministry is desirous to reopen the intervention proceedings with a view to consider some alternative remedial actions to those aspects of the interventions which are perceived either to be contentious and/or alternatively, not in furtherance of the spirit and objectives of Section 2 of the Industrial Relations Act in that they perpetrate disharmony between certain employers and employees and their organisations.”

The PS explained that reopening the interventions would facilitate a broader consensus building process while taking into consideration other views and applicable international labour standards, which might have been overlooked.
“Furthermore, the intended step will defray any continued exposure to litigation costs on account that some of the aggrieved parties have since referred this matter to the Industrial Court of Eswatini.”
When this reporter interpreted Mkhaliphi’s letter to be revoking that of the labour commissioner, Mkhaliphi was quick to set the record straight in an interview yesterday.

interventions

“You may be reading the letter out of context. The letter we wrote recently to SMAWU factions seeks to reopen the interventions and we did this after seeing that the previous intervention is not yielding the desired results, which is harmonious and productive labour relations. Our duty is to ensure that whatever administrative decisions we take does, at the end of the day, create a conducive environment for enhancement of better working environment of workers and that the business environment thrives,” he said.

Mkhaliphi said after realising that the outcome as communicated by the labour commissioner was not yielding the desired results, it became necessary to ask the parties involved for another opportunity to reopen interventions for a win-win solution.
“So in short, no previous statement of ministry has been revoked but what has happened is we have reopened the intervention and the affected parties have agreed to participate in the reopened interventions.”

SMAWU President Justice Thintitha Mtsetfwa said the PS’s intervention was flawed and stood to be challenged. He wondered why the PS would reopen interventions yet the issue was resolved.
“Which section is he using to intervene in these talks? What was pronounced by the labour Commissioner still stands. They must file papers in court if they have something against the pronouncements of the labour commissioner. All they are saying is that we need to reengage in talks. We cannot do that,” he said.
ATUSWA’s Wonder Mkhonza said the Commissioner of Labour had erred in his initial statement because the leadership of a union was elected by members, not someone sitting in an office.