PSAS’ PLAN TO CRIPPLE GOVT OPERATIONS

MANZINI – As preparations for the proposed civil servants’ strike actions are ongoing, the public sector workers have sent yet another warning to government.

This is contained in the submissions which they made during their last joint mobilisation meeting which was organised by the public sector associations (PSAs) and was held at the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) Centre on Monday.

Their warning was that their focus would no longer only concentrate on disrupting operation of schools. They said members of the two other trade unions who would be part of the proposed strike actions; National Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU) together Swaziland National Government Accounting Personnel (SNAGAP), would play a major role in their sectors.

To be specific, they said members of NAPSAWU, who are working at the Central Transport Administration (CTA) depots should ensure that during the strike action, there would be no one to refuel government cars.

“Likewise, members of SNAGAP who are stationed at the country’s revenues will ensure that there will be no transaction taking place,” they said.

Strike

The civil servants said all along, their main focus during strike actions, was to disrupt the operation of schools. However, they said they had noted that this strategy was no longer working in their favour as government seemed not to feel the pinch because at the end of the year, pupils passed.

They said it was time to implement a new strategy that would make government fill the pressure within a few hours of their planned strike actions.
“If we can do this right, there can be no need to strike for more than a day because government can adhere to our demands on the first day,” they said.
They said their demands were clear as it was 7.85 per cent cost-of-living adjustment (CoLA) for 2017/18 financial year, 6.55 per cent for last year (2018/19) and 5.5 per cent for the current year (2019/20).

“We have heard about a possible offer of three per cent salary adjustment in April 2020, but that is not what we want and it is not what we deserve,” they said.

Unfortunate

Meanwhile, the Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Public Service, Sipho Tsabedze said as government, they were in an unfortunate situation.
“Uma ute imali vele usuke usenkingeni (if you do not have money, you are automatically in trouble),” the PS said.

He also said as government, they also sympathised with the public sector workers because if the country was economically stable, things would not have reached this far. 

In fact, he said the workers were going to be given the money they wanted. However, he maintained that under the prevailing economic situation, there was nothing government could do because there was no money.

He said if the workers wanted to engage in a strike, government did not have a way of stopping them. However, he warned them to organise their strikes and meetings by the book.

Permission

“This is to say they should call their meetings during their own spare time. If they want to hold a meeting during working hours, they should ask for permission first,” the PS said.
On another note, the PS pleaded with civil servants to be patient and cooperate with government so that they could pass this trying time. He said this was because when they engaged in a strike action, the economy would be affected even more.

He said once the economy of the country improved, they would engage them in talks on how they could be compensated.
Once again, he said government had made a commitment that during the 2020/21 financial year, it would try by all means to offer them something. In fact, he said government promised that even if the economy would not improve as projected, it would at least offer them three per cent salary adjustment.

Warned

It is worth noting that PSAs have also warned government to brace itself for abnormal behaviour from public sector workers. They said Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist as well as a holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl, was correct when he said; “An abnormal reaction to an abnormal situation is normal behaviour.”
On that note, they said they would not act normal in an abnormal situation. It is worth noting that today and tomorrow, SNAT members will be voting for or against the proposed strike action over 2018/19 CoLA, where they are demanding 6.55 per cent.

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