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Factory staff engage in strike

Test by pepper on 8/15/11

Maseru:  Various factories staff situated at Ha-Thetsane has engaged in the strike starting on Monday.

The member of Lesotho Clothing and Allied Workers Union (LECAWU) Mr. Daniel Maraisane said they engaged in a strike as they could not reach agreement with the wages board.

He indicated that they were treated inappropriately for the past seven years, adding that they have proposed that their salaries be restructured but in vain.

He highlighted that wages board disagreed, noting that individuals who had been with the factories for a period of a year and more would only get five percent increment.

Mr. Maraisane said they expect those salaries to be put in place by October this year. Speaking in an interview with LENA, some workers who opted for anonymity said that the minimum salary for an employee at the factories is M700, adding that they propose minimum salary of M2020.

They indicated that most of them engaged in this strike were those not satisfied with their salaries while those satisfied were peacefully at work. Attempts to talk to the management of the factories and police were futile.

The employees who engaged in the strike include members of Factory Workers Union (FAWU), National Union of Textile (NUTEX), LECAWU and Lentsoe la Sechaba. (LENA)

  • cheese_za

    The unions must also be mindful of the fact that if the costs of running a factory in Lesotho get to high, the owners/operators will just close them down and move to a country where it is cheaper to operate!

  • Ralebitso

    A rip-off is not acceptable either and I suspect it what curretly happening!

  • Wa Bosiu

    If I needed to be heard by a party I am engaged with in talks, I would not leave the talks and go striking. Negotiations are menat to be conducted in good faith and bargaining for a better take f life as a whole does frustrate people who are ill-prepared for the occassion. I fail to understand why the Government declines to hear the MRTO and the Unions walk out of talks and the logic behind the stay away invoving both occassions? Someone please help me understand…

  • cheese_za

    True, and I doubt anyone is saying the current minimum wage is just or fair especially when taking into account the cost of transport for some of these workers.

    But make no mistake, the only vested interest the textile industry has in Lesotho is cheap labour, and that can be found in many impoverished asian countries.

    We can talk about the AGOA scheme, but the benefits to the manufacturer and buyers in the US are decreasing all the time, and pretty soon there may be no incentive for the US to buy from Africa.

  • Mabennyt

    And honestly when you say STAY AWAY, you should stay away and not to block roads with stones and burn tyres.  Ha u itse u etsa stay away lula hae, joale mohiri oa hao a utloe ka letlalo hore ha hona production. Mapolesa a ne a etsa mosebetsi oa bona oa ho phutha bohlasoa, ba tlolo ea molao, ke tlolo ea molao ho chesa lityre ka tseleng, ke tlolo ea molao ho beha majoe ka tseleng, ke tlolo ea molao ho ts’osa motho ea ilo sebeletsa bana ba hae.

  • tsepo

    i wish all the factory close so those ppl who go for stay away suffer from hunger and Mr. Daniel Maraisane  feed them

  • concerned citizen

    Tse bohloko ha li fele. On the one hand we’re screwing with foreign investors (whom our economy effectively depends on) and on the other we’re paid like livestock…