Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Eswatini (Ratification: 1978)

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The Committee notes the observations received on 4 September 2023 from the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA), on 27 September 2023 from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and on 28 September 2023 from Education International (EI). The Committee notes the reply of the Government to some allegations.

The Committee notes the following allegations received from ITUC and ITF that one of the largest logistics companies engaged in acts of interference and union busting against the Swaziland Transport, Communication and Allied Workers’ Union (SWATCAWU) and the management of the company has refused to engage in collective bargaining and has been reported to harass workers into joining a “yellow union”. In its reply, the Government states that the logistics company refutes the allegations of harassment of workers to join a “yellow union”. Furthermore, the Government regrets that the allegations made were not forwarded to it before being submitted to the Office, which runs counter to the efforts to encourage national social dialogue and the exhaustion of internal remedies before complaints are submitted to the supervisory bodies of the Organization. The Committee further notes the allegations of the international trade union organizations that many employers in the textile and apparel sectors refuse to engage with trade unions for the purposes of collective bargaining. The Committee requests the Government to provide its comments thereon.

The Committee notes that EI puts forward challenges and discrepancies in law and practice that compromise the effectiveness of collective bargaining agreements and hinder the professional development and entitlements of teachers. EI also underlines that the increasing reliance on contract teachers undermines the power of unions in the education sector, as contract teachers are more susceptible to intimidation and less likely to participate in union activities to demand improved teaching conditions. The Committee requests the Government to provide its comments thereon, indicating any consultation with the representative organizations in the education sector to overcome the issues raised.

The Committee recalls that, previously, TUCOSWA made observations on the restrictions to the right to collective bargaining in public enterprises under section 10(1) of the Public Enterprise (control and monitoring) Act, 1989. The Committee notes the reply from the Government that TUCOSWA submitted this issue, among others, under a complaint presented to the Committee on Freedom of Association in March 2022 (Case No. 3425), and that through a national voluntary conciliation process in June 2023, the Government and TUCOSWA have agreed that the on-going legislative review of the Public Enterprises Act should include wide consultation of the social partners.

Article 4 of the Convention. Promotion of collective bargaining mechanisms. The Committee recalls that in previous reports the Government informed of the low compliance with the provisions of section 55(2) of the IRA whereby signed collective agreements shall be submitted to the Industrial Court for registration with a copy to the Commissioner of Labour. Since this failure to comply resulted in some collective agreements not known to the office of the Commissioner of labour, the Government indicated its intention to initiate a campaign to sensitize the social partners about the importance of complying with the requirements of the IRA through regular communications at the national radio. The Government indicates that the Ministry of Labour and Social Security is pursuing its campaign, advocating for the establishment of workplace fora and collective bargaining towards the formation of Workers Councils, trade unions and staff associations. Similar trainings are provided by the Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration Commission in the context of its statutory mandate of dispute prevention and resolution. However, the Government reports that the main cause for the decline in the registration rate of collective agreements with the Industrial Court is mainly associated with the level of trust between the parties. Moreover, the Government acknowledges the constraints surrounding the registration of collective agreements in Court and therefore the number of registered collective agreements does not depict the appropriate statistics of signed agreements in a year. The Committee observes, from the statistics provided, the relatively low number of collective agreements registered by the Industrial Court from 2020 to 2023 (9 in 2020, 9 in 2021, 12 in 2022 and 3 up to September 2023). The committee encourages the government to continue to provide information on the measures taken to promote collective bargaining and to report on any corrective measures taken or envisaged, in consultation with the social partners, to overcome the practical blockades, so to promote the full development and utilisation of collective bargaining under the Convention. Finally, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the number of collective agreements signed and in force, and to specify the sectors concerned and the number of workers covered by these agreements.