CIVIL SERVANTS PLAN COLA STRIKES IN 2020

MANZINI - As the year 2020 begins, a lot is at stake, both in the public and private sector, as PSAs are planning two CoLA strike actions to be carried out consecutively.

Following the court judgment on civil servants cost-of-living adjustment (CoLA) strike action for 2017/18, the public sector workers are calling for an urgent joint mass meeting.
In this meeting, they want to give the public sector associations’ (PSAs) leaders a recharged mandate which they should follow going forward; staging two strike actions consecutively.

According to the public sector workers, the first strike action will be for 2017/18 CoLA, which was 7.85 per cent, while the other will be for salary adjustment for 2018/19, where they were demanding 6.55 per cent.
Members of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) and National Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU), the two largest unions under the banner of public sector associations’ (PSAs), want the public sector associations (PSAs) leaders to file new notices of a strike action for 2017/18.

Another trade union which is part of the PSAs strike action is Swaziland National Government Accounting Personnel (SNAGAP), but its membership forms a small faction.
This follows the statement which was issued by the PSAs’ leaders after analysing the recent Industrial Court of Eswatini judgment on their strike action which started on September 23, 2019.

court

In its judgment, the court stopped the aforesaid strike action and in their statement, the PSAs’ leaders said the court ruling did not prohibit them from engaging in another industrial action over 2017/18 CoLA, for as long as they issue new strike notices. The leaders’ argument was that the court judgment was specific that it was stopping the strike action which started in September 23, 2019.

Following that statement, which the PSAs’ leaders sent to its general membership on Thursday night after the court had delivered its judgment, this publication talked to individual members of SNAT and NAPSAWU about the ruling. The aim was to get their reaction.
They said they believed that their fight for CoLA was just because since 2017/18 financial to date, the value of their salaries had been decreased by 19.9 per cent because the employer had not been cushioning their wages after it was eroded by inflation rate.

deserve

“We deserve the CoLA of 7.85 per cent we were demanding in 2017/18, 6.55 per cent for 2018/19 and 5.5 per cent for the current financial year, which our leaders are to table in the round table,” they said.

On that regard, they argued that if the court only stopped the CoLA strike which started on September 23, 2019 and did not prohibit a move for another industrial action for the same issue, they should continue to press.

Furthermore, they argued that if they did not fight for it, their salaries would forever be less 7.85 per cent in terms of value because the employer would bring it to them on a silver plate. “We need an urgent PSAs joint meeting, the largest decision making body, to give our leaders a mandate of issuing new notices for a strike action over the 7.85 per cent,” they said.

The members mentioned that they were aware that the PSAs joint general council (GC) meeting which was held last week, took a resolution to mobilise them to ballot for or against a strike action over the 2018/19 CoLA 6.55 per cent. However, they said; “First things first.”

They argued that it would be pointless for them to start pursuing CoLA for 2018/19 before getting a salary adjustment for 2017/18. Their suggestion was that they should continue with the preparations for the 2018/19 strike while they are on the streets, demanding CoLA for 2017/18.

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