11 DAYS TO CIVIL SERVANTS’ STRIKE

MANZINI – January 28, 2019 is the day targeted by civil servants to ground government’s operations, but as of Monday, people seeking government services may start feeling the pinch.

This is because from Monday, public sector associations (PSAs) will start rolling out activities as a build-up to the nationwide civil servants’ strike action scheduled for January 28, 2019.

The PSAs’ leaders revealed this during a press conference which was held at the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) Centre yesterday. PSAs are formed by SNAT, National Public Service and Allied Workers Union, Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWANDU) and Swaziland National Association of Government Accounting Personnel (SNAGAP).

Halt

Mbongwa Dlamini, the President of SNAT, said from January 28, 2019, all government machinery would grind to a halt because all civil servants who did not get a salary increase during the 2017/18 and 2018/19 financial years would not go to work.

“Instead of going to work, civil servants will take part in activities which we will agree upon until government heeds to our cost-of-living adjustment (CoLA) demand,” the teachers’ union president said.

He said as SNAT, they assured the nation that schools would not be operating from January 28, 2019. He said this would continue until government took them seriously by heeding to their CoLA demand.

On that note, he said they were aware that government was trying to threaten their members. However, he said no amount of intimidation would stop them.
“The only thing that will stop us from going on strike is a reasonable CoLA offer. Once the strike starts, the only thing that will stop it is CoLA,” Dlamini added.

On the same note, NAPSAWU Secretary General Celumusa Tembe, said workers and the nation at large should know that the strike was covered in Section 86 of the Industrial Relations Act of 2000.

He said members of the unions under PSAs voted for the strike action as per the requirements of the law.
“So, workers who did not get a salary increase for the 2017/18 and 2018/19 financial years should take part in the strike without fail,” Tembe said. He said the disturbances which led to the huge wage bill were self created and as a union, they raised their concerns with the previous government which was led by the late former  Prime Minister, Sibusiso Barnabas Dlamini.

However, he said their concerns and warnings seemed to have fallen on deaf ears as, for example, ordinary civil servants’ travelling allowance stands at E0.17 per kilometre, while principal secretaries get thousands of Emalangeni per month as car allowances.

Inflation

Again, SNAT Secretary General Sikelela Dlamini, said they were in this position because government was failing to reimburse them the 14.5 per cent which had been eroded by inflation rate from their salaries during the 2017/18 and 2018/19 financial years. He said in the 2017/18 financial year the erosion was 7.85 per cent while in the current financial year it stood at 6.55 per cent.

“This is against the rising prices of basic commodities,” he said.
Thereafter, he warned PM Ambrose Dlamini and government not to assume that going on strike was personal. He said they were doing so because they have seen money being spent on festivities increasing sharply last year, yet government claimed that the country was facing cash flow challenges.

Again, he said for the first time in the history of the country, government, which claims to be having financial challenges, spent about E40 million on something which was not budgeted for and not necessary; external examinations.
“Even if there is no money, you cannot lament and do nothing,” he said.

 Challenges

On that note, the secretary general said maybe things could not have  gone this far had government tabled a reasonable offer and explained that the country was currently experiencing fiscal challenges.
SNAGAP Secretary General Dumile Dlamini, added that they were concerned with the PM’s statement that they should be patient.

“Sesibeketele kwenele (We have been patient and it’s enough),” she said. She added that they had gone this far because the employer had been pushing them. She said they tried to engage government at the round table but it did not negotiate with good faith.

PSAs took the route to strike after government offered them zero per cent for two consecutive financial years; 2017/18 and 2018/19 yet they were demanding 7.85 per cent and 6.55 per cent respectively. 

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