South African unions and civil society march for democracy in Eswatini

The march to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Pretoria on 13 August was followed by the handing over of a memorandum, demanding that the United National Human Rights Council (UNHRC) convenes an urgent meeting to respond to continuing human rights violations including the right to life, and the rule of law. Further, the UNHRC must emphasize on Eswatini’s responsibility to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms as specified in the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
 
According to a memorandum by the United Eswatini Diaspora to which NUMSA and other civil society organizations signed, the UNHRC must investigate and act upon stopping:

“The human rights violations by the government  and the absolute monarchy which have assumed a number of forms  including the killing of 72 civilians, severe injuries to more than 200 people, harassment, arbitrary detention, persecution of pro-democracy Members of Parliament, censorship of the media, state intimidation and threats, the promulgation and use of laws that violate fundamental rights to freedom of expression and association, and unlawful state efforts to undermine bar or crack down on peaceful protests.”

 

 
The memorandum states that over 600 people, including children, have been arrested. Speakers during the march said the whereabouts of several hundreds of people remains unknown.

“For a longtime the people of Eswatini have been fighting for freedom against the repression. As trade unions we support the struggle to end their suffering and call upon the UN and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to intervene,”

says Jerry Morulane, the NUMSA regional secretary for Hlanganani which includes Pretoria.
 
Recently, IndustriALL affiliates in Eswatini, The Amalgamated Trade Union of Swaziland (ATUSWA) and Swaziland Electricity Supply Maintenance and Allied Workers Union (SESMAWU), took part in a workers’ march to parliament in Lobamba to demand democratic reforms and a constitutional monarchy. The march was organized by the Swaziland Congress of Trade Unions and coincided with the global day of action by IndustriALL and the ITUC.

“IndustriALL continues to call on the government of Eswatini to facilitate social and political dialogue that will lead to democratic reforms. The country must respect human rights and adhere to the UN Charter and the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that it has signed,”

says Paule France Ndessomin, IndustriALL regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa.

Eswatini is Africa’s last absolute monarchy and political parties were banned in 1973. The country has been ruled by King Mswati III since 1986 and he appoints the prime minister and other key officials. Mswati, whose net worth is over $50 million according to reports, is infamous for an opulent lifestyle that includes buying a fleet of Rolls-Royces for his family of 15 wives and 23 children while most of the population lives in poverty and faces high unemployment especially amongst the youth. The country also faces a high prevalence of HIV and AIDS.

Take action for eSwatini!

Unions in eSwatini are urging the government to undertake democratic reforms. Tomorrow, 6 August, unions in the country are marching to parliament. Join our day of action together with the ITUC and send letters to the eSwatini government, as well to your own government, supporting the protestors and calling for urgent pressure on the eSwatini government.

The protests began in May as the government refused to accept petitions for democratic reforms that included reducing the powers of the monarchy and allowing the Prime Minister to be democratically elected. Currently the Prime Minister, ministers and some Members of Parliament and Senate are appointed by the king.

“Global solidarity can make a difference, and we urge you to take action supporting our fellow unionists in eSwatini. IndustriALL calls on the government to engage in an inclusive dialogue to resolve the situation,”

says IndustriALL general secretary Valter Sanches

IndustriALL affiliates in eSwatini, ATUSWA and the Swaziland Electricity Supply, Maintenance and Allied Workers Union (SESMAWU), call

“upon the government to open the political playground and be accommodative to dialogue on dissenting political views”.

 

Union in South Africa prepares for strike over deadlock in wage negotiations

Although NUMSA commits to further negotiations, the union says it will call for a strike and solidarity strikes in other sectors that includes automotive, energy, mining, and tyre manufacturing if the wage negotiations remain deadlocked. Another IndustriALL affiliate, UASA, is involved in the negotiations.
 
The union, which wants an 8 per cent increase, rejected the 4.4 per cent offer made on 12 July by the Southern Africa Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (SEIFSA) on behalf of the engineering employers. There were no wage increases in the sector in 2020 after an agreement was reached with the union and the employers not to increase the wages because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
 
Irvin Jim, NUMSA general secretary says: “We reject government and business hiding behind Covid-19 to advance their consistently adopted attitude, which is to refuse to give workers their deserved wage increases and accord workers a living wage. It is important to state that just like businesses and government, workers carry the same burden in facing the tough socio-economic conditions. Workers provide for extended families, and in a stagnant economy, that further erodes their own buying power.”
 
“We signed the standstill agreement to secure the future of the industry amid economic lockdowns and challenges to suppliers and value chains. Together with our members, we ensured the smooth operation of businesses which are now breaking even, and some are making profits. We made such compromises being very clear that preservation of companies should translate to job security.”
 
NUMSA says it is disappointed that despite the workers’ sacrifices the companies “retrenched workers to strengthen their balance sheets and to make profits as they always see workers as the weakest link in the chain to be attacked.”
 
Paule France Ndessomin, IndustriALL regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa says: “Engineering employers should commit to paying living wages that are above inflation and to consider the NUMSA demands for an outcome that benefits the workers. The Covid-19 pandemic should not be used as an excuse to pay low wages.”
 
Reports by the South African Revenue Service indicate that the economy is beginning to recover because of the current high prices of metals and precious metals exports that include platinum, gold, and iron ore as well as vehicle and transport equipment, chemicals, and other exports. The engineering supply chain is an important part of mining’s upstream and horizontal linkages and is benefiting from the high commodity prices.

Tanzanian union addresses gender-based violence in textile and garment factories

During the visit, the union learnt from workers that supervisors were targeting young women workers for sexual harassment leading to stressful conditions that affected performance. To bring this to an end, TUICO organized a five-day conference, 22-26 July, at Sunflag in Arusha to sensitize workers on how to stop GBHV at the factories.

The conference was attended by 101 participants, of whom 53 were women. The training programme emphasized that workers’ rights were protected by national labour laws, and international labour standards. These included the rights to maternity protection which were the most violated as workers were denied maternity leave.

Discussions emphasized the importance of the International Labour Organization Convention 190 on eliminating violence and harassment in the world of work, as one of the tools to fight GBVH. The workshop discussions and group work defined forms of harassment that included inappropriate language, gender discrimination, threats, and inappropriate jokes. Further, C190 and Recommendation 206 broadened the world of work to include hotels where meetings took place, changing areas at workplaces, training venues, marketplaces and during travelling to work.

TUICO is campaigning for the ratification of C190 by Tanzania. In Sub Saharan Africa the convention has been ratified by Namibia, Mauritius, and Somalia.

TUICO says it has set up mechanisms for reporting GBVH which includes encouraging affected workers to inform their colleagues, report at the union branch office at the workplace, investigations by the gender desk, reporting to the police, and taking the matter to courts or for mediation.

“It is powerful to talk to workers about sexual harassment and gender-based violence. We are expecting big changes to be made at this factory so that the grievances by workers are addressed. The union targeted this factory after receiving reports of abuses. We met with workers, forepersons, supervisors, heads of units and departments of Sunflag,”

said Maria Bange, TUICO’s head of women, the disabled, occupational health and safety and the environment.

Paule France Ndessomin, IndustriALL regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa says:

“Sensitizing workers to demand their rights and demand workplaces free of GBVH is important especially in the garment factories where sexual harassment is common. IndustriALL will support TUICO to extend the training and awareness campaigns to other manufacturing sectors.”

The conference was held with support from the IndustriALL regional office for Sub Saharan Africa and the NITO project. NITO is a Norwegian trade union organization for engineers and technicians and supports IndustriALL Tanzanian affiliates through an organizing project that addresses gender, youth and union building efforts.

Kenya unions support proposals for unemployment insurance fund

The proposed fund, which will become operational in 2022, will also benefit workers who have lost their jobs because of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the Kenya Bureau of Statistics over 1.7 million jobs were lost at the beginning of the pandemic last year.

The fund, which will be under the department of social protection of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, will pay workers part of their wages for up to six months in the event of retrenchment. Kenya is also implementing cash transfer schemes for poverty alleviation.

According to reports, the fund will be like South Africa’s Covid-19 Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) which has so far paid over $4 billion to workers whose jobs were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. TERS is part of the Unemployment Insurance Fund in which workers and employers contribute. Workers can claim benefits from the fund when they lose jobs. In addition to UIF, South Africa provides universal old age and disability pensions, and child grants.

Social protection policies benefit workers who in most cases provide not only for their own families but for relatives as well. Social protection, which includes income security, has been identified as one of the strategies to attain the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Rose Omamo, Amalgamated Union of Kenya Metalworkers general secretary says:

“Unions have long fought for income security and unemployment benefits for retrenched workers. We support the setting up of the unemployment insurance fund and will continue to engage the government in the negotiations towards the launch of the fund. We have made demands for such schemes through collective bargaining and in social dialogues platforms that we are involved in as labour.”

 “Income security is important in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic that has caused massive job losses. Millions of workers have lost jobs in Kenya and other African countries. With limited income security because of low wages and inadequate basic healthcare, most of the workers are forced into poverty as they fail to provide for their livelihoods. In this respect, the proposals to introduce an unemployment fund will provide some much-needed income security to the retrenched workers,” says Paule France Ndessomin, IndustriALL regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa.

IndustriALL affiliates in Kenya are the Amalgamated Union of Kenya Metalworkers, Kenya Engineering Workers Union, Kenya Glass Workers Union, Kenya Petroleum Oil Workers Union, Kenya Shoe and Leather Workers Union, Kenya Union of Hair and Beauty Workers, Tailors and Textile Workers Union.

South African unions condemn unrest, violence, and looting

Over the last few days, South Africa has been engulfed by what began as protests following the imprisonment of former president Jacob Zuma on contempt of court charges. Zuma was summoned to appear before a judiciary commission of enquiry on state capture and boycotted some of the sessions.

However, amid widespread poverty exacerbated by the pandemic, and the recent withdrawal of a Covid-19 grant, the protests, mainly in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces, turned into food riots and general unrest.

This led to the looting of shopping malls, grocery shops, food and industrial warehouses, garment and shoe shops, and furniture stores, among others. Some factories and malls were burnt in the mayhem including a garment factory in KwaZulu-Natal province. 

According to reports, 117 people have been killed and several injured. Some of the rioters have been arrested. The government says it is taking steps to curb further violence by deploying soldiers to the hotspots to assist the police.

Andre Kriel, the general secretary of the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (SACTWU) says:

“We cannot accept that while, together with national government and employers, we have been working extremely hard to save and create local industrial jobs, the future sustainability of our efforts is being undermined by such horrific and unashamed criminal activity.”

“For example, in Isithebe, a brand-new clothing factory, Kingspark Manufacturers, which was set up only in September last year, has been completely destroyed. Machinery and raw materials have been looted, and nothing remains. In the process, 600 much-needed jobs supporting 3,000 family members in the poorest part of the country are now lost.”

William Mabapa, National Union of Mineworkers, acting general secretary says:

“In the aftermath of this situation many workers will lose their jobs. Many families will be left with no means of earning a living as many shops and trucks are completely burnt and destroyed. The looting of these businesses destroys the working class families' source of earning and sustainability. While we support effective law enforcement, unnecessary deaths resulting from such interventions should be avoided.”

Phakamile Hlubi-Majola, the spokesperson of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa adds:

“We are deeply concerned about the acts of criminality and the unrest but believe the uprising was inevitable after two decades of neoliberal capitalism that has caused the crisis of inequality, poverty and unemployment. The working class and the poor have been under pressure for a long time. We need reforms and economic policies that benefit the working class.”

South Africa is one of the most unequal countries in the world, with high wage inequality and the poor having limited access to education and healthcare. Nearly half of the adult population, mostly women, live in poverty. With job losses caused by Covid-19 lockdowns, poverty levels are increasing.

The union federation COSATU yesterday tabled a Disaster Relief Package at Nedlac, South Africa’s tripartite industrial relations council. The federation recognizes that hundreds of thousands of jobs will be lost, and that this represents a “national disaster”.

COSATU is calling for a range of immediate measures, including food parcels, the restoration of the Covid-19 grant, and economic stimulus to help business to recover. The federation is also calling for long term measures to transform the economy.

Paule France Ndessomin, the IndustriALL regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa says:

“Over many years South Africa has developed social dialogue mechanisms to address social and economic problems. These should be used to diffuse the current tensions, while the government has a responsibility for law enforcement while protecting workers’ and human rights.”

Photo: Community volunteers clean up after rioting, by Athi Geleba

Union-run clinics in South African garment sector certified for Covid-19 vaccination

On 3 July, 15 workers received their vaccine jabs at a trial which was done at a clinic in Durban. The clinics, which have the capacity to vaccinate at least 6,000 workers per week, will be linked to the national vaccination roll-out programme.

The union-run clinics have been providing health facilities to garment workers for many decades – the first was established in 1942 – and are part of the union’s health and safety strategy. They are managed with support from the National Bargaining Council for the Clothing Manufacturing Industry as part of South Africa’s tripartite industrial relations system.

The union efforts are contributing to a national roll-out programme to vaccinate as many workers and people as possible against a ravaging wave of Covid-19 infections which have recently multiplied because of the more contagious delta variant now dominant in the country. Unions are expressing concern over the slow pace of vaccination.

Andre Kriel, SACTWU general secretary says:

“This exciting development follows on the recent conclusion of successful negotiations for a historic Covid-19 Vaccine Rollout Framework Agreement for our industry, which was signed between SACTWU and all clothing employer associations in April. Part of the framework agreement states that we will make available our industry health care clinics and its qualified medical staff to assist with the Covid-19 vaccine rollout campaign.”

Paule France Ndessomin, IndustriALL regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa says:

“We commend the efforts by SACTWU which is a leading union in the campaign to contain Covid-19 in the factories and workplaces for prevention and vaccination. It is important that the union has integrated Covid-19 in its health and safety activities, and this justifies why Covid-19 must be recognized as an occupational disease.”

South Africa has the highest Covid-19 infections in Sub Saharan Africa, and over 63,000 people have died. According to the South African Medical Research Council excess deaths of 176,700 have been recorded in the country since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Further, according to the department of health, on 7 July the country had 195,493 active cases with 411 people dying from Covid-19 related complications per day. The country is recording 21,427 new infections per day. So far 3,819,730 have been vaccinated, but this is far much less than the 40 million people that are targeted for the country to reach population immunity. Reports indicate that some of the country’s hospitals in Covid-19 hot spots like Johannesburg are running out of hospital beds for patients that need admission.

Unions demand democratic reforms in Eswatini

According to hospital records confirmed by the unions, 24 people have been killed while 150 others are in hospital being treated for gunshot wounds after the police and the army opened fire on protesters. Several other people are feared dead, and to have been secretly buried or burnt to ashes by the security forces.

Instead of police and army brutality, and the government’s shut down of the internet, the unions are proposing dialogue and the opening of democratic spaces in the kingdom.

Eswatini is the last absolute monarchy in Africa. The kingdom has been ruled by King Mswati III since 1986. The King has a reported net worth of $200 million and is accused of using his country’s money to fund a lavish lifestyle for himself and his fifteen wives. Political parties were banned in 1973 and are severely restricted under the kingdom’s constitution. The protestors are demanding the introduction of a democratic system of government.

Unions are advising workers to remain at home for their safety and have requested employers to allow workers to stay away until the situation improves.

The unions say the protests, which began in May, started when the government refused to accept petitions for democratic reforms that included reducing the powers of the monarchy and allowing the Prime Minister to be democratically elected. Currently the Prime Minister, ministers and some Members of Parliament and Senate are appointed by the king.

Wander Mkhonza, general secretary of Amalgamated Trade Union of Swaziland (ATUSWA) which is affiliated to IndustriALL, says:

“We  find ourselves in this situation because we have a leader who has decided to be indifferent despite our persistent demands for democratization. The king talks about dialogue on the international stage but does the contrary in the country. He hides behind those that he sends to deal with dissenting voices. The king must accept that his absolute rule has ended abruptly.”

 “We are calling upon the government to open the political playground and be accommodative to dialogue on dissenting political views. The federation shall be engaged in an urgent in-depth internal consultation to contribute towards a speedy resolution of the current impasse as it is proving to be very costly to industrial peace and the general enjoyment of fundamental rights and freedoms,”

wrote the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) in a statement. The affiliates belong to TUCOSWA.

Paule France Ndessomin, the IndustriALL regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa says:

“We are in solidarity with the workers and people of Eswatini in their demands for democratic reforms. As trade unions we believe that social and political dialogue is important in resolving conflict and urge the government of Eswatini to facilitate inclusive dialogue.”

IndustriALL affiliates in Eswatini are ATUSWA and the Swaziland Electricity Supply, Maintenance and Allied Workers Union (SESMAWU).

Photo: People's Dispatch

Unions concerned by slow Covid-19 vaccination in Sub Saharan Africa amid surging infections

With hospitals, clinics and other public health facilities overwhelmed and running out of intensive care beds, unions say vaccination is now a matter of urgency in a surging pandemic that has increased deaths by 40 per cent in the last few months. According to the Africa Centre for Disease Control, on 27 June, there were 140 976 deaths and 4 736 725 recoveries, 52 059 658 tests had been taken.

Reports indicate that the highly contagious delta variant has been detected in some countries, and infections in the region are currently growing the fastest globally, with some governments including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Uganda, and Zimbabwe tightening lockdowns and Covid-19 regulations to contain the spread.

The unions, that organize in mining, textile, garment, shoe and leather, chemical and pharmaceutical and manufacturing sectors are expressing concerns at the slow pace at which Covid-19 vaccinations are taking place in their countries.

Sipho Mungwe, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) South Africa health and safety secretary says:

“The NUM is deeply concerned about the increasing prevalence of Covid-19 infections at the workplaces and is sending a clarion call in support of a speedy vaccine roll out. However, the vaccination programme should respect workers’ rights.”

According to reports, vaccination programmes are the lowest in the world with less than 3.7 doses per 100 people inoculated against Covid-19 in Africa compared to 67 per 100 in Europe and 73 per 100 in North America.

Unions say the surge is worsening a public health and economic crisis that has seen thousands of workers getting ill and dying. Millions of workers have lost jobs, while wages are sometimes delayed or unpaid. Weak social security systems have worsened the situation with poverty and unemployment increasing.

Unions see vaccination as one of the solutions to the crisis and are supporting the Covax facility that was set up to procure vaccines for developing countries. Covax, a partnership between CEPI, Gavi, UNICEF and WHO, is anchored on global collaboration on development, production, and equitable access to Covid-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines.

“We have launched an online campaign on social media to promote vaccination and have also created an online messaging platform for our shop stewards to engage management and sensitize workers on the need for vaccination to counter misinformation. We are also using the messaging platform to reach our members. This is how we are able to campaign because we are under a lockdown,”

says Justina Jonas the general secretary of the Metal and Allied Namibian Workers Union.

Further, unions support the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team which aims to achieve 60 per cent immunization on the continent, and bilateral agreements of vaccines.

Unions are also supporting local manufacturing. For example, in South Africa, the unions support the manufacturing of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine through local pharmaceutical company, Aspen Pharmacare.

Further, the unions support the TRIPS waiver proposals made to the World Trade Organization (WTO) by India and South Africa as this will improve vaccine manufacturing.

The unions also want Covid-19 to be declared an occupational disease so that workers can receive compensation when they get ill or die from the disease and continue to carry out awareness campaigns, promote wearing of masks, hand sanitizing, and better ventilation of indoor spaces as part of their health and safety programmes.

Paule France Ndessomin, IndustriALL regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa, says:

“Concerted effort is needed by unions, governments, social partners, and global initiatives that include Covax and the TRIPS waiver campaign. The local manufacturing of vaccines is also key to making vaccines accessible. Vaccine equity is required because Covid-19 is a global pandemic and developed countries cannot hoard vaccines that are urgently needed in Sub Saharan Africa and other developing countries.”

Malawi court rules in favour of compensation in sexual harassment case

Tamara Kabowa  was sexually harassed by her general foreperson, Joaquim Carvalho, successfully sued her employer, Mota Engil Engenharia Construcao Africa, for damages. The court heard that Carvalho forcefully caressed Kabowa and attempted to undress her using a “a six-gear knife to rip the trousers apart.” Carvalho resigned and left Malawi before the case was heard in court.
 
The court ruled that Kabowa should be compensated by her employer, Mota Engil, the defendant in the case, for “aggravated and exemplary damages for the injury to her dignity as a woman, emotional and psychological trauma among others as a result of the negligent failure of the defendant to curb her sexual abuse at the hands of one of its officers who was her senior.”

Further, the court ruled that Mota Engil “breached its duty as employer under section 13 of the Occupational Safety and Health and Welfare Act to ensure a safe workplace.”
 
IndustriALL affiliates in Malawi welcome the firm approach that the courts are taking to combat sexual and gender-based violence and are involved in campaigns for the ratification of C190 under the Malawi Decent Work Programme II. Affiliates are also involved in campaigns as members of the Malawi Congress of Trade Union and with civil society organizations on gender mainstreaming and gender equality. The IndustriALL affiliates are the Building, Construction, Civil Engineering and Allied Workers union (BCCEAWU), Chemical Energy, Mining and Allied Workers Union (CEMAWU), Commercial, Industrial and Allied Workers Union (CIAWU) Escom Staff Union (ESU) and Textile, Garment, Leather and Security Services Workers (TGLSSWU).

“We welcome recent judgements in which courts are giving stiffer sentences and penalties for perpetrators of sexual and gender-based violence at work,”

says William Mnyamula, ESU general Secretary.
 
Paule France Ndessomin, IndustriALL regional secretary for Sub Saharan Africa says:

“We salute women who are standing up against sexual harassment at the workplace. The employer has a duty to protect women workers and to ensure their safety. The ratification of Convention 190 by Malawi becomes the necessary next step considering that the courts are supportive.”

In Sub Saharan Africa, Namibia and Somalia have ratified the convention while other countries are at various consultative stages towards ratification.