Planned strike to coincide with SMART summit

Unions in Swaziland have threatened a three-day stayaway next week to press for political reform, hard on the heels of demonstrations this week in the capital, Mbabane, over public sector wages. The public sector unions began protest action last Friday over the annual review of pay scales published by the government, which the unions claim are not in line with a wage agreement signed last year. Teacher's Association Secretary-General Dominic Nxumalo told IRIN on Wednesday that "the public sector unions signed an agreement - a collective agreement - with government, that awarded all public servants an 11.4 percent annual increment" and promised the revision of public sector pay scales. However, "around 10 June this year, a government circular showing new salary scales came out with so many anomalies, mistakes and omissions" that the unions did not feel these scales met the agreed terms of pay revisions. The public sector unions planned to continue their protest action until the government instituted the agreed pay scales. Meanwhile, Jan Sithole, the secretary-general of the Swaziland Confederation of Trade Unions (SCTU), said the "broader workforce" would embark on stayaway action next week, should their concerns around issues of democracy and governance not be addressed. Sithole warned that "all industries" would be shut down for three days from 12 August to highlight concerns over the rule of law in the country, the controversial attempt to purchase a private jet for King Mswati III, and constitutional reform. The unions had postponed earlier planned protest action and given the government until 31 July to respond to their demands. Sithole told IRIN on Wednesday that next week's planned strike would coincide with Swaziland's biggest event of the year, a Commonwealth Heads of State SMART Partnership Dialogue Summit, scheduled for 13 August.