Matsapha Airport transition into a parastatal halted

MATSAPHA – Staff at the Matsapha International Airport do not know what the future holds for them as the airport’s transformation into a parastatal takes more than was expected.

An employee of the airport alleges that they have been kept in the dark for the past six months.

He alleges that this was despite that talks were held between their representatives and the government on how the transition into a parastatal will be carried out.

"We were told about negotiations that were ongoing between our union and government but what surprised us was that our union never came back to tell us how the talks were progressing. The last time we heard anything on the matter was when we heard that we were to be transferred to the Swaziland Civil Aviation Authority (SWACA). Those talks stalled after some government officials decided to sideline union leaders and start to negotiate with individual shop stewards," said an employee of the airport.

Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, Paul Nkambule issued a minute on December 10, 2010. He announced that the workers were to report to the newly launched SWACA and that the transition was to be with immediate effect.

"Following the promulgation of the Swazi-land Civil Aviation Authority of 10 of 2009, all operational activities that pertain to Civil Aviation matters in the country, both the Directorate of Civil Aviation (DCA) as well as Matsapha International Airport, will, henceforth, be under the jurisdiction of the Swaziland Civil Aviation Authority (SWACAA).

In line with Section 102 of the Act and pending the conclusion of negotiations of staff issues between Swaziland Government Negotiations Team with the respective staff represantatives, all operations at Matsapha International Airport will with immediate effect, be handled by the SWACAA. This shall include all functions related to airworthiness inspection," reads the memo from Principal Scretary in the Minstry of Public Works and Transport.

It transpired that the talks between the workers and government had stalled after some shop stewards allegedly engaged in talks with government after they had promised them better pay if they were to agree to be part of SWACA.

President of National Public Services and Workers Union (NAPSAWU) Quinton Dlamini said it was true that they were negotiating with government and talks stalled after they discovered that some officials from government decided to sideline the union.

Dlamini said the management of the airport acted outside the scope of what they had agreed upon with government.

"We wrote to government where we stated that we were ready for the transition. All we wanted was for government to confirm that it was going to pay terminal benefits for long service to government employees," he explained.

"I think the major problem that has delayed the transition is the shortage of funds that government is currently facing. It is not true that we deserted the workers but the conduct of some shop stewards nearly hampered progress with the way they handled the issue," said Dlamini.

Nkambule said it was true that they talked to unions and they were supposed to have concluded their talks. He said they had to shelve them after the coming into picture of the 10 per cent salary cut talks.

"We engaged unions on the prospects of moving the airport employees to join SWACAA. Our talks were at an advanced stage. I am hopeful that the negotiating team will re-convene so that we can finalise the talks.

This has delayed the transition but if things could go as per our expectations by August the employees should be under SWACAA," said Nkambule.

He denied ever negotiating with shop-stewards and said that was highly impossible for the government team to engage individual shop-stewards.

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