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UNIONS FREE TO LEAVE TUCOSWA IF..

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MBABANE – Shape up or ship out. As the battle for legitimacy in the Swaziland Post and Telecommunications Workers Union (SPTCWU) drags on, the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) said unions which failed to uphold democratic principles were free to leave the federation.

This was said by TUCOSWA acting Secretary General Mduduzi Gina in an interview yesterday. His statement was a reaction to a letter from the Oscar Vilakati-led National Executive Council (NEC) of the SPTCWU, which stated that TUCOSWA stood to lose its (SPTCWU) affiliation.


Gina said they made the point a long time ago that unions which did not want to follow what workers wanted and observe democratic principles, were free to excuse themselves from the federation. He said they were aware that there were a number of Eswatini Post and Telecommunications Corporation (EPTC) employees who were in support of the federation. He said they regarded it as a threat that the Vilakati-led NEC would disaffiliate from the federation.


Gina said the ‘threat’ was based on that workers raised critical issues like the E25 000 withdrawal made in the name of a member of the union’s interim committee. He clarified that the federation only learnt of this at the meeting held on Sunday. He noted that some members of the Vilakati-led NEC were in the union’s interim committee, which the federation allegedly asked to call a proper elections congress, and further give a financial report to the workers.
“They would rather not regard themselves as part of us if they will do things willy-nilly and not listen to either the federation or membership,” Gina said.


Gina stated that they had done everything that could convince them that the legitimate NEC is the one whose president is Innocent Ngcobo. He clarified that they were not aware of the one elected on August 8, as they were not even informed of  any congress or activity which the union would be engaged in on the said date.


“We take it as a hallucination that we fetched people from the firms to attend the meeting because not a cent from the federation was used for the meeting, including securing the venue but the employees contributed from their own pockets,” Gina said.
He further said they attended the meeting as a response to a request from the EPTC management to intervene in the division within the union. Gina shared that the EPTC management wrote to TUCOSWA informing it about the existence of two NECs. He commended EPTC for this and added that they took the matter up and they would communicate the resolutions of the meeting to the employer, with the expectation that it (employer) will implement whatever decision that was taken. Gina said they were not taking any sides between the two NECs but taking that of democratic processes in respect of using democratic means to resolve issues. He said they would not mind if the employer volunteered to assist them by allowing that all workers be released from work if they had any doubt about the position of the legitimate NEC.


Gina clarified that they did not incite employees to strike during the meeting, as the matter at hand had to be dealt with by the union. He said that would be unfair.
Gina alleged that the Vilakati-led NEC misled its legal representatives. He alleged that this was firstly by asserting that they were the legitimate SPTCWU NEC, as according to their records, the union’s congress was held on July 1 not on August 8. He said to their knowledge, the Vilakati-led NEC was an interim committee which had to leave office after the election congress.


“We do not know the NEC elected on August 8, we know one which we observed being democratically elected,” Gina said.
He said the federation’s Constitution was binding to all its affiliates and they normally observed elections to ensure that they were in line with it in terms of democracy. He said all legitimate processes were observed in the elective congress held on July 1.
Gina alleged that it was inaccurate that the Vilakati-led NEC was not aware of the meeting held on Sunday, as it was sent a written correspondence to that effect. He alleged that the Vilakati-led NEC allegedly circulated a memorandum to workers about the meeting.

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