Eswatini garment workers continue strike amid intimidation and harassment5 May, 2022Despite intimidation by security forces, textile and garment workers in Eswatini are continuing their strike for living wages. Five weeks into the strike, the workers are reiterating their request for at least E15 per hour or E2983 (US$183) per month.
Unions struggle for democracy in Swaziland11 September, 2012Despite violent repression by the Swaziland government, unions together with student bodies and civil society pushed on with calls for multiparty democratic elections during the Global Week of Action on Swaziland, 3 to 7 September.
Patience running out on promised reforms in Swaziland 16 June, 2014As Swaziland’s labour rights came under scrutiny at the International Labour Conference in Geneva, outraged worker representatives held up printed demands for the release of a jailed labour lawyer and the registration of Swazi Labour Federations.
US withdraws Swaziland’s preferential trade status3 July, 2014The failure of the Swaziland government to uphold the rule of law and respect worker and human rights has resulted in the loss of preferential trade status with the US under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
Convictions confound Swazi reform hopes 24 July, 2014The conviction in Swaziland of a journalist and a human rights lawyer with ties to the labour movement does not bode well for the country’s reinstatement to a preferential trade deal with the USA.
Eswatini police disperse workers petitioning for living wage17 March, 2022Over 5,000 workers from 15 factories in the textile and garment sector braved the rains to present a petition on living wages to the department of labour in Nhlangano on 15 March. However, the police dispersed the workers while denying permission for other marches planned for Manzini and Matsapha to take place.
Unions in Sub-Saharan Africa strengthened by solidarity18 April, 2019Unions in Sub-Saharan Africa face economic recession, deindustrialization, and precarious work coupled by high unemployment and poverty. Human and workers’ rights violations are common, including unfair retrenchments when mines and companies are closed.
Swaziland: Union welcomes return to US-Africa trade agreement19 January, 2018IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, the Amalgamated Trade Union of Swaziland (ATUSWA), has welcomed the readmission of Swaziland as a beneficiary to the US’s African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
Swaziland bans trade unions17 October, 2014Swazi Minister of Labour and Social Security, Winnie Magagula, has announced a Cabinet resolution deciding that, pending legal reforms, all federations should stop operating immediately. All trade union and employer federations will be effectively banned, a clear violation of ILO Convention 87, ratified by Swaziland, guaranteeing freedom of association for workers and employers.
Swaziland union federation dealt another blow7 March, 2013The Industrial Court in Swaziland ruled against the legitimacy of the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (Tucoswa), giving advantage to the repressive Swazi regime to undermine calls from labour for democracy ahead of national elections.
