Swaziland (eSwatini) has one of the worst workers’
rights records in the world, according to the latest annual
survey by the International Trade Union Confederation
(ITUC).
The kingdom scored five in the Global Rights Index
which depicts the world’s worst countries for workers by rating 139 countries
on a scale from one to five based on the degree of respect for workers’ rights.
ITUC said, ‘Workers’ rights are absent in countries
with the rating five and violations occur on an irregular basis in countries
with the rating one.’
It added, ‘Countries with the rating of five are the
worst countries in the world to work in. While the legislation may spell out
certain rights workers have effectively no access to these rights and are
therefore exposed to autocratic regimes and unfair labour practices.’
Each country is analysed against a
list of 97 indicators derived from International Labour Organisation (ILO)
conventions and jurisprudence and represents violations of workers’ rights in
law and practice.
In a survey of workers’ rights in Swaziland up
(eSwatini) to March 2020, ITUC
reported, ‘Strikes
were brutally crushed in eSwatini, where police
forces fired live ammunition during a march of 8,000 public service workers in
Manzini on 2 October 2019.’
It added, ‘Another march attended by 3,500
civil servants on 25 September to protest against low pay and rising living
costs in the country was
violently dispersed by the police with teargas, rubber bullets and water cannons, severely injuring fifteen
workers.
‘A meeting that was attended by members of
various public service unions on 28 January 2019 to discuss the court ruling to
cancel the planned strike action on that day was declared illegal by the
principle secretary of the Ministry of Education and Training, who circulated a
message to all head teachers stating that it would be “illegal for any teachers
to attend the meeting without prior permission from her office”.’
In October 2019
ITUC condemned police brutality during a week-long
public sector strike in Swaziland. Previously it had
criticised other police attacks on workers. More than 30 people were injured when
police opened fire with rubber bullets. They also used water
cannon and teargas on protestors during a three day strike for a cost-of-living
salary increase.
ITUC General Secretary Sharan
Burrow said in a statement at
the time, ‘Respect for workers’ rights, good faith
dialogue and a government that responds to people’s needs and concerns – just
like any other country, this is what eSwatini needs, not state violence against
the people. eSwatini’s King Mswati pledged to us earlier this year to build
these bridges, yet now we are seeing the government pulling all stops to
undermine them.’
In a letter
addressed to Swazi Prime Minister Ambrose Dlamini, Burrow highlighted past
commitments to establishing dialogue. It added, ‘The use of violence, even for
purported reasons of internal security, constitutes a serious violation of
human and trade union rights.’
Burrow said, ‘The government claimed that the strike
was a threat to national interests. If the Swazi people asking for decent
working conditions is against this government’s version of “national interest”,
then the government has got it totally wrong.’
In the letter to the PM, ITUC, which represents 207
million workers across 163 countries,
called for an ‘urgent and impartial investigation’ into the police
shootings. No investigation has taken place.
See also
Swaziland
police brutality under attack from international workers’ group
Police
fire stun grenades at protest
Two
critical after police attack
Workers
in Swaziland locked into their factory and ‘forced to work into the night’
No
guarantee of workers’ rights in Swaziland, ITUC reports, and it’s getting worse
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