New Agreement signed between the TUC and Swaziland's IRALE boosts the struggle for Decent Work and Democracy
New Agreement signed between the TUC and Swaziland's IRALE boosts the struggle for Decent Work and Democracy
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'Every worker and poor person in Swaziland needs to have a say in the direction the country is taking, making sure their voice and role in their trade unions and/or workers organisations becomes more pronounced every day. This project is an initiative in the right direction, ensuring that this becomes a reality. Shop-stewards and educators shall be given the necessary capacity in the target sectors (textile and commercial) to further cascade downwards the education to members. Women leadership empowerment is an integral component of this undertaking, as both these sectors are largely female.'
Remarked IRALE Board 2nd Deputy Chairperson, Margaret Maziya (who is also the President of the Swaziland Pre-Schools and Allied Workers Union - SPRESAWU, an SFL affiliate) on the signing of a 10 month project agreement between the TUC and Swaziland's Labour Research Academy, IRALE.
IRALE Coordinator, Percy Masuku agreed saying......
'Through the TUC-supported shop-steward and educator training programmes, and through the capacity-building of IRALE, the Academy [IRALE] is part of the ever-increasing number of organisations and individuals which hopes to see a vibrant and dynamic labour movement in the country, contributing to the process of nation-building towards a more equitable and just economic system, based on the ideals of a people-centred economy for the benefit of all. This system is compared to the existing tinkhundla system based on royal opulence and extravagance at the expense of the poor greater majority.'
The purpose of the project is to strengthen the Swazi labour movement's ability to educate, organise and represent workers, particularly but not exclusively within the textile, commercial and retail sectors. This will be done through building the provision of quality trade union education and training to Educators and Shop Stewards and through the capacity building of IRALE as an organisation.
By the end of the project it is expected that:
Shop stewards in targeted sectors will have increased knowledge, skills and confidence and will have improved their recruitment and representation of their members;
600 trade union members have increased knowledge and confidence to access their rights in the workplace due to activities of the educators' network;
IRALE's organizational capacity and effectiveness will have grown.
These outcomes will be achieved through the recruitment of a project worker who, supported by the rest of the IRALE team, will coordinate a combination of national and regional education and training of shop stewards and educators and low cost workplace and community activism in the regions. There will also be an emphasis placed on ensuring buy-in, coordination and support from the two Federations and relevant union leadership and the on-going capacity building of IRALE as an organisation.
In other circumstances it would be expected that the project will directly lead to an increase in the terms and conditions and/or pay of Swazi workers. However with such a short project and with the unions operating in such a politically hostile and repressive unstable environment, this would be unrealistic and therefore the operative word is hope.
Background
Swaziland is sandwiched between South Africa and Mozambique and is Africa's smallest country. With a population of just over one million and a respectable annual GDP per head of nearly US$5,000 it is also a popular tourist destination focused on experiencing the magnificent Swazi culture. Yet behind these statistics is a spectacularly oppressive, unequal nation ruled by one of the world's last remaining absolute monarchies, with a quasi-feudal system that rewards corruption and patronage, where political parties are outlawed and where pro-democracy campaigners are labelled as terrorists and suffer from systematic harassment.
Unsurprisingly, trade unions in their fight for decent work and democracy also struggle to resist the low-intensity onslaught of a state that persistently contravenes the ILO's Core Labour Standard Convention Number 87 on The Right to Freedom of Association.
And so, despite Swaziland's classification as a middle income country, most Swazi citizens live in abject rural poverty with around 70 percent surviving on less than two dollars a day. Textile or shop worker's wages average just £24 and £14 respectively a week and unfair dismissals and sexual harassment is rife. Swaziland is also infamous for having the highest percentage of people living with HIV/AIDS in the world.
As Percy Masuku noted in a report of the events of what has become an infamous 2010 May Day celebration in Swaziland, SFTU General Secretary Mduduzi Gina said that the Tinkhundla system of governance has 'achieved nothing concrete in terms of development other than ushering people to poverty.' Gina then went on to call for a programme of employment creation, the outlawing of labour-brokering, a national minimum wage and a system of governance that would guarantee freedoms. He criticised the Media Commission Bill saying journalists should be free to report on issues of national importance and reiterated the call for a multi-party democracy in Swaziland.
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Participants at the IRALE Launch held at the Tum's George in Manzini pose for a group photo (Photo by: Bhekie Dlamini - IRALE)
Following the success of that appeal and with the Swazi Government failing to live up to its ILO commitments in 2009 after their continued failure to deal with complaints around Convention 87 at the ILO's Application of Standards, Swaziland was given a special mention in the ILO's Conference's 2009 report.
With this and the background of the TUC Aid project, TUC Programme Officer, Gemma Freedman visited Swaziland in February 2010 to explore with IRALE how the TUC could further support their work and the result of that visit is the signing of this agreement
On signing the agreement Gemma remarked, 'For too long the international community has been too quiet about the plight of Swaziland's people. As the Southern African regional cases of South Africa and Zimbabwe prove, having a strong and united trade union movement is crucial if decent work, human rights and democracy are to stand a chance of flourishing. That's why the TUC is continuing its support of IRALE and we are very much looking forward to the results of our cooperation bearing fruit in the coming months'
More information on the trade union struggle for decent work and democracy in Swaziland
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