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TEX RAY ACTED IN BAD FAITH - MINISTER WINNIE

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MBABANE – Minister of Labour and Social Security Winnie Magagula says Tex ray Swaziland Group acted in bad faith by closing down its operations.


The group, which ran the biggest textile factory in the kingdom, officially retrenched about 1 450 workers this week. 
This was because the country had since lost its eligibility to the Africa Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA), and as a textile company, it could no longer enjoy preferential treatment when selling to the United States of America (USA).


The decision was reached after a meeting between the factory’s management, Ministry of Labour and Social Security and the workers’ union.
However, the minister in an interview yesterday, said Tex ray jumped the gun way too soon because government was still trying to attend to the benchmarks in order to retain the AGOA status and its benefits. AGOA provides trade preferences for quota and duty-free entry for specific African products into the United States market.


“All along, they had never mentioned to us their intention to stop operations. So I’m now very skeptical about the other firms in the textile industry,” said Magagula.
She revealed that in the truest sense the complete removal of the country from AGOA was something that could happen by January 1, 2015. But government was busy to prevent that from happening in the first place.


She said perhaps if the country was removed, the period between January and February would have been suitable for talks about shutting down operations and sending people home.


“I’m treating this matter one day at a time. Our relationship was not managed well here,” continued the minister. She said unfortunately, the company reached a decision and at this juncture the best course of action was to push for a ‘soft landing’.

 


By this she meant ensuring that the former workforce received their terminal benefits accordingly. The minister said the labour commissioner was in negotiations with Tex ray management for a fair package.
Asked on her thoughts about the venting of anger by hundreds of ex- employees who marched to the Cabinet Offices in Mbabane on Tuesday, she said it was to be expected.
The minister did not even take offence from the hate placards against her, where she was blamed for the job losses.
“I’m the face of government in this matter, and I understand what they are going through. I share their grief,” she remarked. As for the hundreds of workers whose health was affected by a chemical spillage at the factory a month ago, the minister said she was confident that Tex ray would cooperate on issues of medical check-ups.


Meanwhile, the Tex ray managing Director, Ricky Tai, communicated through a press statement yesterday that ex workers would receive their notice pay, additional notice and severance allowance.
They also offered a five days bonus. “The factory is looking forward to restart operations in the near future, once we get enough orders from customers,” he said. 
 

Comments (3 posted):

Trevor on 31/10/2014 10:18:55
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Come 1january 2015 & SD is not back into AGOA,heads must roll, everyone in the country must unite & take to the streets, we should make this country come to a stand still,sekubonakele ngatsi this Government want that.
Burns Dlamini (Lobhoncela) on 31/10/2014 17:13:58
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The Honourable Minister must spare us the hretoric here and let Tex Ray run their business the best they know how. She cant expect to run their affairs like where things take forever to happen. If anyone is acting mala fides it wouldgovernment in this case.
sothulisa on 01/11/2014 03:11:02
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yah! winni umsebenti wakho awuwati! makuphilewena nebantfwa bakho ishayile! kubgani ungafuni lesinye sikhundla ngobalesi siyakwehlula? kunini emaswati akhala unga action?

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