Africa-Press – Eswatini. Over 11 companies have laid off their employees within the textile industry due to the shortage of orders in just five months.
Amalgamated Trade Union of Swaziland (ATUSWA) Secretary General Wonder Mkhonza said between February and June, the companies had laid off their workers due to the shortage of orders in the textile and apparel sector.
He said the companies which effected the layoffs were situated in Matsapha and Nhlangano industrial sites, respectively.
Mkhonza said even though they did not have the total number of employees who had been affected by the layoffs, but it has come to their attention that out of 23 companies that had applied to lay off their employees, over 11 of them had been granted the greenlight to temporarily relieve some of their workers of their duties due to the shortage of orders.
Some company owners did not follow due processes in as far as effecting the layoffs was concerned.
He said procedurally, employers were supposed to consult the workers about the layoffs and then furnish them with 14 days’ notice before effecting same, something which they unfortunately failed to adhere to.
“As a union we do not promote that employers should use layoffs as punishments against their employees and as such, we urged them to rotate them (layoffs) amongst their workers rather than targeting certain employees who were wayward.”
This, he said, if properly adhered to, would result in some workers being laid off for a period not exceeding a day, that is if they were laid off on a rotational basis.
Meanwhile, some of the affected employers in the textile and apparel sector said they applied for layoffs because the industry was in its low season, which is also referred to as off-season.
They mentioned that during this season, which usually runs between February and April, but sometimes up to June, they ran short of orders.
It is worth mentioning that the worst ever layoffs that was faced by textile workers was between 2020 and 2021 when the country was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The workers were placed on layoffs for a period not exceeding three months. However, government through the Eswatini National Provident Fund (ENPF) established a relief fund and workers who applied were given E400 each for two months.
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