Today, 1st May, is International Workers Day, a historic day when we both remember and celebrate workers’ movements around the world. It is a day of internationalism recognising that, regardless of national contexts, workers are united by a common set of interests in their struggle to overcome exploitation in the workplace and wider society.
For many years, trade unions in Southern Africa have demonstrated their strength, unity and solidarity on May Day. From South Africa to Mozambique to Zimbabwe to Namibia, May Day historically has been linked to the wider struggle for national liberation, democracy and racial equality, highlighting the central role played by workers and trade unions in resisting apartheid and colonial oppression. And of course, that role continues wherever the legacies of these repressive regimes continue to impact people’s daily lives.
Remember Swazis workers fighting for rights.
Today, in Swaziland*, workers and trade unions face brutal repression by the authoritarian government. Workers’ rights are not recognised, trade union leaders and activists are imprisoned or in exile, and political opponents are silenced in some cases through torture and assassinations. It is in this context of repression that May Day will be commemorated by local unions in the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) under the banner of “Social Justice and Decent Work for All”.
Trade unions in the UK have a long history of internationalism, including solidarity with trade unions and social movements in Southern Africa. And this support has been extended to Swaziland. For example, the RMT National Executive Committee adopted an emergency resolution to work with Westminster MPs to end the repression and call for dialogue and free and fair elections, and the Trades Union Congress here has continuously shared information and coordinated solidarity actions. At a global level, the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) has highlighted the clampdown on our local affiliate, the Swaziland Transport, Communications and Allied Workers Union (SWATCAWU), and organised solidarity from affiliates in the subregion and beyond.
As we gather and mobilise in the UK on May Day, let’s link the demands for trade union and workers’ rights here to those of workers in Swaziland and other Southern African countries who continue to fight for their freedoms, the right to organise in trade unions and decent terms and conditions of employment.
You can also join ACTSA or affiliate your branch, so together we can keep up support for civil society and human rights across Southern Africa.
* In 2018, the government changed the name of the country from ‘Swaziland’ to ‘Eswatini’. However, pro-democracy groups and independent unions continue to use the name ‘Swaziland’, as they regard the name-change as an illegitimate and unilateral decision made by the authoritarian government of King Mswati III.
Sign the petition for Thulani Maseko’s death to be independently investigated HERE