Mbabane :Government’s job creation plans are facing a significant setback as close to 200 workers were recently laid off from a textile firm.
Juries Manufacturing in Nhlangano has blamed the latest action to orders drying up.
Management of the company said they tried to make arrangements but failed to save the jobs of the affected workers and further explained that future orders were unpredictable.
The apparel company employs around 1050 workers at the moment.
Investigations by the Independent News discovered that about 180 workers were laid off from the company around October last year, sparking off a labour dispute between the garment factory and the labour union looking after the welfare of textile industry workers, the Amalgamated Trade Union of Swaziland (ATUSWA). The dispute has already been reported at the Conciliation Mediation & Arbitration Commission, where the matter is pending.
The situation has had a very devastating effect on the affected workers.
Most of these workers have not been receiving their salaries or lay-off wages for the past five months, making the lives of the families of the affected individuals miserable. Difficulties facing the families include the disruption of the education of the children.
Gcebile Maseko is among the workers who got laid off from the textile firm around October last year.
She is a mother of three and the breadwinner for her family. Her son is languishing at home after being chucked out of school for owing school fees.
“This situation is really hard on us. My son who is in Form IV cannot go to school anymore because I cannot afford to pay for his school fees. We often go for two days without having eaten anything because there is nothing to cook. It is really a difficult situation because even my husband has not been able to find a job,” she said.
The trade union looking after the welfare of textile workers has openly criticized the management of Juries Manufacturing over the manner in which they have handled the issue of the workers.
Secretary General of the Amalgamated Trade Union of Swaziland
(ATUSWA) Wonder Mkhonza said the union was not consulted by the company before they took the decision to lay off the workers. He believes that the workers were targeted by management of the company after participating in the prolonged strike by textile form workers in Nhlangano around the year 2022. Mkhonza is convinced that the workers were victimized for embarking in the strike action which resulted in the apparel industry increasing wages for their workers.
“It is a pity that the affected workers will no longer enjoy the fruits of their toil. It is the struggles of the same workers which saw textile firms increasing the wages of their workers. However, we are not folding our arms, we will ensure that we fight for the rights of the laid off workers. They don’t deserve such treatment from the company,” said Mkhonza.
Elmon Ndlovu, the Human Resources Officer at Juries Manufacturing said the lay-offs were caused by economic difficulties. He explained that the mass layoff had taken place due to a lack of orders resulting from global economic difficulties, as well as a decline in market demand for their products in South Africa where they sell.
As a result, he said they could not export as new orders were not arriving.
“Business is not good anymore. We export our products to South Africa and orders have dried up, hence the decision to lay off some of our staff. It was not an easy decision to make. We had to take time before arriving at the decision. We value our workers, but we could not keep them because we were no longer receiving orders,” explained Ndlovu.
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