Swazi Observer
By Alec Lushaba 04 July, 2009 10:00:00
When the global economic meltdown hit the United States of America and Europe in the third quota of last year, our textile industry was the first to feel the pressure.
For the past nine months, textile industry orders have dropped by almost half, which is 45% and the situation doesn’t show any signs of improving.
As we speak, some companies in Matsapha are semi-functional, workers are called as an when there is an order, leaving several millions of Emalangeni equipment in a state of idleness.
One of the directors of a company in embroidery services said: “We have been in operation for the past eight years. We invested on a E20 million plant and when we are fully operational we have about 150 workers. Today, given the state of affairs, I keep about 50 employees, who come as an when we have some business to do.
“We are in a dilemma where we cannot close down the operations completely or terminate their services because of the specialty nature of our work. As a business, I carry most of the cost of paying them for doing literally nothing,” the director, who preferred to remain anonymous, said.
He said he has told himself to forget that things may improve anytime this year and is prepared to wait until next year.
His sentiments were supported by another textile owner who has been in the country for over 30 years.
He too laments the current situation, saying nothing much can be done by the local government in terms of intervention as this is a global phenomenon.
“Government cannot afford to intervene in terms of bailouts because there are so many of us who need help.
“I think we can still try to remain competitive by ensuring that we produce quality products. We are only going to get orders if we produce quality. This means our workers need to understand that we need to partner in serving jobs by giving it our all. For them to remain in employment they need investment and we need them too,” the veteran textile boss said.
The textile bosses are worried though that despite the difficult economic times, wage increments are still part of the unions’ menu.
“We are not against that, but workers need to also understand that in order to get what they want, we need to improve our production in terms of quality and quantity. We are not going to be able to meet their demands if the production levels go below what they are asking. Business needs to remain business and they too happy with their wages. We need each other and we hope they will or should understand that.
“The challenge we face as business is that the cost of production in Swaziland remains high compared to other countries with who we compete for the market like Cambodia.”
The textile industry, however, appreciates government and SIPA’s contribution in terms of subsidising rentals for the factory shells.
Regarding the high costs of utility services like electricity, the textile bosses said there is very little government can do as it also imports it from ESKOM in South Africa.
To date, the country has about 12 companies in the textile industry, for which only four have direct links with the major US market whilst the rest act as subcontractors.
Of the 12 companies, Master Garments is currently on hold following disagreements with the unions.
“As far as we are aware, Master Garments is not closed as it is portrayed, but is changing its management. It is unfortunate that in that process of change, there are some disagreements with the unions which delay its operation,” the veteran textile boss said.
unions call for social dialogue
Leaders of the labour federations are calling upon government and business to a Social Dialogue where the impending job crisis and ILO Jobs Pact will be discussed and operationalised in the Kingdom.
Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU) Secretary General Jan Sithole and his Swaziland Federation of Labour counterpart Vincent Ncongwane disclosed this week that they have already initiated a process by writing to the Labour Commissioner requesting the dialogue.
“Coming from the ILO Summit, we are expecting that all the social partners in the country would meet and discuss the ILO plan of action.
“This is a disaster that affects everybody negatively. We need to sit down and discuss what we can do that is relevant to us,” Sithole said.
He is hopeful that from that dialogue, through the Minister of Labour, they can advise what should be done.
“It is a fact that the global crisis is affecting us differently even in the country. For instance, those companies that have direct market to the US and Europe, already feel the strain, whilst for others it will take a while.
“We also need to ascertain how our financial institutions are coping and take experiences from other countries in the same situation,” Sithole said.
He laments the closure or threat to close some local companies, like SAPPI and Peugeot franchise.
Sithole said such closure or threats are not isolated, but affect a number of people, including their families.
Neighbours South Africa, in efforts to keep workers at work or have something to do, have encouraged their companies to train them on other skills that will sustain them beyond their official jobs.
Commenting on that, Sithole said the challenge facing the country is that it does not have a Corporate Social Responsibility policy.
“Companies must be obliged not to only deliver taxes to government but also take care of the communities they operate in. The South African system of multi-skilling their workers is part of that social responsibility programme. It is such gaps that we will need to close once we have that social dialogue. ILO has given us the framework and it is us at the country level that need to implement it,” Sithole said.
Regarding the issue of the textile industries and their concerns, Sithole said the person who makes profit is the employer.
“They make their profits when the price is good and the quality is good too. They thrive on people being overworked and underpaid or have less staff and more machines. Our function is to represent the workers at shop floor level. We go further to take care for even those who are not in the unions, as our agreement also binds them as well,” he said.
Sithole said the union’s existence is to serve their members not unions to make money.
“Any employer who advocates for longer hours of work does not believe in the principles of decent work and decent wage. Their sole aim is to destroy the workers and we say that philosophy is wrong.
“Most textile companies don’t provide transport and accommodation and such conditions are not decent.
“We are too happy to have laws that protect workers against such malpractice,” Sithole said.
He further dismiss any notion that Lidlelantfongeni (Provident Fund) threatens investment, saying given the low wages paid, such contributions by both the employer and the employee cover as social security.
“In the absence of strong social securities in the kingdom, workers cannot afford to work without having something that covers for their future,” he said.
The textile bosses had complained in the interview about paying Lidlelantfongeni, saying it is one of the huge costs they pay above utilities and all.
Meanwhile, Swaziland Federation of Employers and Chamber of Commerce CEO Zodwa Mabuza also concurred that the social partners need to meet to look at the global crisis.
He said already, their members (employers) are feeling a lot of strain and urgent talks are needed to discuss the matter with the view of getting a way forward.
“Our plea to both employers and workers faced with this situation is that they should always engage each other. It is when they engage each other that they will get solutions. Retrenchments should be the last resort. Dialogue is key,” Mabuza said.
Senior citizens plead with government to save SAPPI
“It is sad news for the country to hear that one of the oldest companies has taken a decision to close down operations due to global financial crisis that spreads worldwide like the Australian veld fires. If there is anything that deserves urgent attention of the government, it is the imminent closure of SAPPI,” Petros Mbhamali said in a statement to the Weekend Observer.
He said SAPPI is one company that makes a huge contribution towards the growth of the economy and a major source of revenue for government in taxes and royalties, besides providing employment to many Swazis.
He urged government to carefully chart a way forward on how to bail out the company.
“We are mindful of the fact that our government is at the moment financially constrained due to social demands. However, we appreciate to note that our government is concerned about this problem.
“I am also reliably informed that Maloma Coal Mine is also faced with a similar predicament. I am also appealing for a same intervention,” he stated. Mbhamali said he has confidence in the leadership of the Prime Minister, Dr. Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini and hopes something will be done to save this companies from closure.
He, on the other hand, encouraged Swazis to participate in the SMART Partnership Dialogue scheduled for later this month.
Attempts were made to speak to the Deputy Prime Minister, Themba Masuku, as chairman of the Social Dialogue and the Minister of Labour and Social Security, Magobetane Mamba, but both reported that they were having state engagements to discuss the global crisis issue this week.
No comments:
Post a Comment