TAMBUTI STAFF PICKET OVER FOOD, CONTRACTS

TAMBUTI – Workers of Tambuti Estate United Plantations picketed over alleged rotten food and cutting of seasonal workers’ contracts from nine to three months.

The workers picketed during their lunch-hour (between noon and 1pm) yesterday. Their intention was to deliver a petition with six grievances to the management, mainly the estate manager, but no one came to receive it. According to the workers’ petition, they demanded that the company should stop the reduction of seasonal workers’ contracts from nine to three months. They alleged that, usually, seasonal workers had a contract of nine months and would automatically return to the company on the season of the work. However, they alleged that from last year, the company had been reducing the seasonal workers’ contracts without consulting their union - the Swaziland Agriculture and Plantation Workers’ Union (SAPAWU). They claimed that the company was purportedly doing this to prevent them from getting benefits that were negotiated by the union. “The company is also employing seasonal workers on weekly or monthly contracts to prevent them from attaining the seasonal employee status,” reads part of the petition.

Loans

The workers argued that by so doing, the company was depriving them of the opportunity to access loans from financial institutions. They said under the nine-month seasonal contract, which was automatically renewed in the following year, financial institutions were assisting them financially, but now that they were offered a contract of three months or less, banks did not entertain their applications for loans. They said this was because there was no guarantee that their contracts would be renewed. Again, they complained that the company, which was engaged to serve them food rations, was allegedly distributing expired and/or rotten maize meal. According to their claims, those working at the kitchen reported the matter to management, but it allegedly directed that the maize meal should be distributed to the workers. They also alleged that in the company, workers had an option, that those who did not eat chicken would be given beef. However, they claimed that recently, the company told them that it was failing to get beef supply and everyone, including those who did not eat chicken, were served with it (chicken). Their argument was that they should be given food items which they needed because the company was not doing them a favour by giving them the rations, as they also made contributions for the food. In that regard, they demanded fresh and healthy food rations.  

Hospital

They also complained about non-availability of drugs at the company clinic. They alleged that all along, the clinic was run by the company, but recently it decided to outsource the medical services. They alleged that since then, they were often referred to another clinic in Siphofaneni, instead of a hospital, which was proof that the reason for the transfer was shortage of drugs, not that they had complications in their illnesses. They also claimed that the qualifications of some of the nursing staff were questionable since they were sometimes allegedly given wrong medication. Therefore, the workers demanded that the company should make their health a priority. Furthermore, they complained that their salaries were sometimes delayed and they had to wait for hours after knock-off time. They demanded that their salaries should be deposited timeously into their bank accounts, to avoid the long wait at their respective banks. On top of that, they argued that more often than not, the distribution of payslips was delayed. At times, they alleged that they got their payslips after a month. Therefore, they demanded that the payslips should be made available prior to pay day or at least in the morning of the payday.

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