WE NEVER AMBUSHED, BETRAYED GOVT AT ILO - TUCOSWA

MBABANE – Trade unions have refuted that they betrayed and ambushed government during the recent International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conference in Geneva.

Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) Secretary General (SG) Mduduzi Gina said government was well aware that all unresolved workers’ issues were scheduled to be deliberated upon at the ILO conference for further discussions. The SG was responding to a statement made by the Minister of Labour and Social Security, Phila Buthelezi, yesterday on the Eswatini Broadcasting and Information Services (EBIS 1) morning programme, Letishisako.

The minister was reporting back on what transpired during the ILO conference, where the country was among the 24 countries that were examined by the ILO Committee on Application of Standards for violation of Convection 87 of the ILO on freedom of association and assembly. The minister said the government team felt betrayed and ambushed by the local trade unions.

Stipulated

He said some of the issues that were resolved were expected to be concluded through stipulated routes.  One of the issues Gina said, was that of the alleged tear gas that was thrown into a bus allegedly transporting workers at Nkoyoyo in 2021.“At mediation, it was agreed that the issue should be referred to the Human Rights Commission to investigate what exactly transpired and who could be prosecuted in the event prosecution is necessary,” he said. The SG said the federation concentrated on the unresolved issues. He added that there was no way that the federation could have control over those who were presiding during the conference.

He explained that for a country to be discussed, the committee of experts on ratified conventions and recommendations issued a report. “Once that committee states the words ‘we note with deep concern’, that then results in the International Employers Organisation and International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) sitting and identifying, where the committee is making such notes or concern or deep concerns,” he said.

Determines

Once they agreed, he said that country would then be on the list. He said the report that determined the examination was normally issued around January to December of the previous year. In this case, the report was issued last December. Gina said the preliminary list is then issued two to three months before the June conference. In 2024, the preliminary list was issued in April after checking progress with either that country’s employer or employee organisations. In light of this process, Gina said he would not agree that there was an ambush.  He said ILO was a reputable organisation that would not allow or permit ambushes. He said the ILO committees were formed by people of high status.

“It is not correct to say you were betrayed or ambushed because the issues were declared unresolved, therefore, the process details that they should then proceed to be examined by the committee.  “These included the issue of SESMAWU SG Maurine Nkambule and Mbongwa Dlamini,” he said.
Gina said Eswatini was on the preliminary list that was issued before the ILO conference, hence he failed to understand what was the minister trying to say by using the words ‘betrayed’ or ‘ambushed’.  On the issue of lobbying and having over 30 countries examine Eswatini, Gina said the minister’s statement was incorrect. “It is not correct to say there were over 30 countries that examined Eswatini.

“The majority of those who took the floor at the conference were trade union federations that are organised under the ITUC, not member States.
“Therefore, you cannot even dare ask why trade unions support other workers because for us it is about solidarity,” he said. Gina said countries that intervened on behalf of their governments in terms of noting that Eswatini needs to address the issues, were the United Kingdom, the United States of America (USA), and the European Union (EU). In terms of lobbying, the SG said this was part of the ILO conference. However, Minister Buthelezi stated that they discovered that the trade unions had done a lot of lobbying against Eswatini regarding various issues that were dealt with.

Ultimately

“Lobbying is the order of the day, because their final list should have 24 countries out of 187 member States of ILO. To then be ultimately on the list of countries requires lobbying. There would then be meetings of the worker groups,” the SG stated. He said inasmuch as they lobbied, they did not lobby governments but concentrated on worker organisations. Gina said they understood that the government of Eswatini also lobbied other governments for support, hence the government of Namibia and Morocco supported. “Most of the government representatives who intervened were lobbied by government in meetings where trade unions were not present,” he said.

The minister said the cases in which the country was held answerable were resolved in the in-country mediation that took place last year and a report was disseminated. Buthelezi added that some of the reports that were submitted by government had not been considered at the ILO conference.
“We were hoping that the committee will first review the report before summoning the country,” he said. The minister said what was disappointing the most was seeing how the country was treated at the conference.

He added that most of the speakers debated the labour issues of Eswatini, but did not show the same interest when debating issues of other countries.
The minister also noted that as the meeting progressed, some speakers brought up issues that were not on the agenda. “During the meeting, the country was disparaged for suppressing union leaders, and some of the unionists were living in exile.  He further pointed out that some of the speakers alleged that over 80 workers died during the 2021 political unrest, and tear gas was thrown into a bus ferrying workers to a protest action.
They also said the country was not democratic.

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