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POLICE TO STOP NATIONAL STRIKE

27/01/2019 11:14:00 BY WELCOME DLAMINI

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MBABANE – Forewarned is forearmed. Government has decided to take a hard line approach against public servants in a move that seeks to counteract the proposed nationwide protest action scheduled for tomorrow.
Prime Minister Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini minced no words in stating that the government he leads, though new in office, “will not be intimidated by the militant response from elements within union leadership”.

The country’s public sector associations (PSAs) include the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT), the Swaziland National Association of Government Accounting Personnel (SNAGAP), the Swaziland Nurses Association (SNA as recognised by government) but called the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU) by its members, and the National Public Services and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU).

The PM said this was not a war and they were not an enemy but were all colleagues doing everything in their power to preserve the public servants’ jobs. In an early evening press conference at Cabinet offices yesterday, he said members of the security forces were already on standby to ensure the safety of those who will be going to work and to school on Monday.
The PM said the strike action by the public servants was illegal because even those that were categorised as an essential service under the country’s industrial law were going to participate. “Nobody has the right to threaten and intimidate employees into joining an unlawful strike,” the PM said.

Dlamini, who sat between his deputy Themba Masuku and Minister of Labour and Social Security Makhosi Vilakati, said government would do all in its powers to safeguard its people.
“The usual will be performed by the law enforcement agents. The usual as it pertains to illegal strikes. The police will be doing their work to ensure that there is safety and security and that the people of this nation continue to enjoy peace and calmness,” he said.

Strikers to be fired

He said therefore those government employees who wanted to take part in the unlawful strike action should consider a number of factors, including risking their jobs. “Employment is not protected and employees who take part in unlawful strike action will face disciplinary proceedings and be liable on conviction to be dismissed,” the PM said.
Secondly, he said the principle of no-work-no pay shall apply to any employee engaged in the strike action, including employees who will not report for work, employees who will report to work and fail to attend to their duties, and employees who will report to work and restrict the output of their work in any way.

Thirdly, the PM said no employee was obliged to participate in any strike action and every employee had the right to work.
The premier listed, as a fourth factor, that no union or employee was entitled to prevent any employee from going to work or to use intimidation, threats or violence to prevent an employee from going to work, or to suffer any harmful consequences for going to work. “Any persons threatening violence or ill-treatment towards fellow employees will face disciplinary proceedings and be liable on conviction to be dismissed. This will apply, in particular, to the threats issued by SNAT secretary general in the circular dated 26th January,” said the PM.

The fifth factor, as per the PM, to be considered by the public servants was that any loss attributable to unlawful strike action shall be subject to an order for just and equitable compensation in terms of section 88 (i)(b) of the Industrial Relations Act.
The sixth factor to be considered is that unions and employees who engage in unlawful strike action commit offences in terms of section 88(5) of the Industrial Relations Act and will be liable on conviction to pay fines up to E10 000 in terms of Section 110 of the Industrial Relations Act.

Section 88(5) states: “If any strike action takes place otherwise than in conformity with this Part, a trade union for staff association engaging in such strike action commits an offence.”
The PM said they expected schools, hospitals and clinics and all government services to open as usual tomorrow.

He urged any parent, student or other person experiencing any disruption at school to notify the authorities. “Any patient experiencing any disruption at a clinic or hospital should notify the authorities. Any person experiencing any disruption in any other service from a government employee should notify the authorities. Any person experiencing any threats, intimidation, violence or action preventing that person from going to work should notify the authorities,” said the premier, while stating that disruption of services would be kept to a minimum.

3% offer is minimum

On the other hand, the prime minister clarified that the three per cent cost of living adjustment (CoLA) that government has offered to public servants for the 2020/2021 financial year was the minimum amount. He said there was huge possibility that the offer would be higher than this when the financial year comes.
In the past two financial years; 2017/2018 and 2018/2019, government has been consistently tabling a zero per cent offer to the public servants, which is the main cause of the industrial action. “The minimum of three per cent is an optimistic target that we will be working towards as the new government to ensure that this country comes back to track and that we start seeing meaningful growth in the economy,” the PM said.

He continued: “We are positive; that is why we say the three per cent is the minimum. We hope and pray that it will be higher. That’s the assurance we have given to the PSAs and the nation. We are putting our heads on the block and saying we will see meaningful growth in the economy in 14 months’ time looking at the plans and what we will be doing from now until end of March next year.”
The premier said as government they were optimistic and positive about the outlook into the future when it comes to economic turnaround.

He said His Majesty the King gave government a huge assignment, but he assured the nation that they were going to work extremely hard to improve the economy.
He stated that they would soon be outlining to the nation the strategy and plan that would be employed to turnaround the economy.
“So we are very optimistic that within a space of 14 months, we will see a turnaround and when that turnaround happens, we believe that the government will be in a position to start paying,” said the PM.

strike motives questioned

Dlamini had earlier emphasised the feeling towards Friday’s categorical rejection by unions of the proposals tabled by government, which include the timeframes suggesting that the CoLA issue would be resolved during the 2020/2021 financial year and the proposed joint quarterly review of the state of the economy with the public sector unions.
He said the rejection prompted a feeling of skepticism on government about the motive of the strike as they were aware that the union membership had not been consulted.
The PM said it was in this regard that they were coming back yesterday to share their thoughts and advise the entire nation, including the business community. “We are aware of the challenges of the past and going forward we want to focus on the solutions for the future. In doing so, we the new government (in office less than three months) has committed to an Economic Recovery Strategy and Plan of Action to improve the quality of life for all emaSwati,” he stated.