SNAT: THANK YOU FOR DEALING WITH SELL-OUTS

MBABANE – It serves them right! The Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) Secretary General, Sikelela Dlamini, applauded government for dealing with what he termed were sell-outs.

The sell-outs, according to Dlamini, were the teachers who did not heed to the call by their union to abandon their duty stations and partake in a litany of activities that culminated to an eight day strike.

SNAT, along with two other public sector associations (PSAs), abandoned work as they coerced government to give in to their demand for 7.85 per cent cost-of-living adjustment (CoLA).

The other two PSAs are the National Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU) and the Swaziland National Association of Government Accounting Personnel (SNAGAP).

Following the industrial action embarked on by civil servants, government effected the no-work, no-pay rule, which saw some teachers who were not party to the strike action having their money deducted.

Despite not having the exact figures of those affected by the implementation of the no-work, no-pay rule, Dlamini was ecstatic that even those who were at their duty stations felt the pinch of having their remuneration deducted.

He said: “It serves them right and government acted appropriately as all members of SNAT were supposed to be on strike.”
In the same breath, Dlamini further took a swipe at government for giving wrong figures of those who participated in the industrial action.

Deducting

“If there were a few people, why are they deducting from those who were also not on strike?”
However, despite appreciating the act by government on deducting the salaries of the ‘sell-outs’, Dlamini said they were to challenge the deduction of salaries as the public servants were partaking in a legal strike.

Also, on Friday, during the teachers’ day celebrations, the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) had not only incited PSAs to challenge the implementation of the no-work, no-pay rule, but it had also pledged to support the trade unions in doing so.

Quinton Dlamini, who is the president of the trade unions’ umbrella body, said PSAs should challenge the implementation of the no-work, no-pay rule on behalf of its members because it was (allegedly) unlawful.  He said in as much as the law allows the employer to effect the rule on workers who were engaging in a lawful strike action, it should engage them before the implementation.

“This is like a debt. No one is allowed to just deduct money from a worker’s salary without engaging that individual on how much can be subtracted from his/her nett pay per month,” he argued.

Meanwhile, when the no-work, no-pay rule was announced by government, the Minister of Public Service, Christian Ntshangase, said civil servants who would feel that their money was deducted despite being present had to present proof that they were at work.
Last Friday, this publication reported that government would save E597 520 in the Manzini Region alone. This is because about 509 teachers would have their salaries deducted for the no-work, no-pay rule.

These teachers were a fraction of the 1 466 educators who were submitted to the Treasury Department to have their salaries effected with deductions for being absent from their duty stations at the height of the industrial action that was embarked on by civil servants in recent weeks.

Absentees

The 1 466 teachers were derived from the fact that the Manzini Region had the most number of absentees as 509 teachers were listed. It was followed by the Hhohho Region which had 400 teachers listed to be affected by the exercise while Shiselweni had about 307 teachers reported to have been absent during the industrial action.

The Lubombo Region had recorded the least number of absentees as 250 were recorded. However, these numbers, according to sources, were expected to surge as some schools were still submitting their forms to their respective regional education officers (REOs).
The deductions effected on the salaries of the educators varied due to their pay scale and notches. It was established by this publication that on average, the least deduction was E350 while the maximum deduction was E2 800.

However, when rough calculations were made, it transpired that some teachers would have as much as E3 800 deducted from their salaries. This is because the maximum days the teachers were not at their duty stations differed and ranged between one and 11. Given the absence of the educators at their workstations, government released duty forms that had to be filled by head teachers reflecting the number of teachers that were present.
This in turn exposed those who were not present – who were then assumed to have been attending the industrial action. This form had to be filled three times a day – which was morning, midday and at knock-off time.

This information was then handed over to the REOs, who in turn submitted the forms to the Ministry of Education and Training.
After computing the information that was compiled by the head teachers, the ministry handed over the forms to the Treasury Department, which has then effected the deductions.
Last Thursday afternoon, this publication established that about 276 teachers would feel the pinch of the no-work, no-pay this month. The others, it was gathered, would feel the impact of the deductions at the end of next month – November, 2019.

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