20 June 2018

Mondelez International Swaziland (PTY) LTD, a sweet manufacturing company refuse to accept the decision of the Industrial Court of our country which confirmed the amalgamated status of the Amalgamated Trade Union of Swaziland (ATUSWA). Despite, various attempts’ the Company refuse to remit union dues and refuse to allow the trade union access to the company for purposes of conducting shop stewards elections while in the process working with those who were defeated in court to divide the workers.
We have been reliable informed that Mondelez management is working around the clock to recognize a sham union which was solely formed to divide workers. This is despite that no individual employee has resigned from our organization which have a one hundred percent membership at Mondelez. The ploy is to prolong the self-created confusion so that the captured shop stewards who have been removed by ATUSWA continue to occupy positions in the sham workers organization. This is to ensure that workers continue to be sold a dummy like the wage review that was agreed upon in 2017 but not effected. When our union pushed for the implementation of the review Mondelez management captured the shop stewards by promising them (shop stewards) big “donations” towards workers annual Mondelez conference which is annually held in Durban in the Republic of South Africa. These donations have not and will never advance the interest of the workers save to be used as pocket money for the shop stewards who fail to account for the donations.
It is a known fact that since its formation ATUSWA was and is despised by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, more especially the department of Labour which is using every opportunity it get towards destroying and de-campaigning our glorious organization. The Mondelez Management has identified itself as a hand ready to be used to destroy ATUSWA in an effort to appease the department of labour for having given them (Mondelez) work permit/s through clandestine means.
We call on Mondelez International to intervene on the issue by ensuring that the recognition as confirmed by the Industrial Court is respected. We are not opposed to freedom of association but we do not take kindly when management involve itself in trade union battles to the point of assisting another to design and distribute pamphlets and forms denouncing the other. We know Mondelez as a company that recognizes and respect the right to freedom of association but what is being done in our country is in total contrast to that position.
We call on all workers to reject this under handed tactics which seek to undermine the trade union independence. This is nothing but a ploy to weaken the collective bargaining power. We advise our members to wait until they are addressed by the leadership of the union and if they feel that they want to be part of the sham trade union organization, we would give them our blessings for we do not want to find ourselves in a situation where two or more trade union organizations are recognize in one workplace and we are amongst them. Workers must be reminded that ATUSWA was formed as means to increase the bargaining power of workers and we shall never lose that power as soon as we got it.

Issued by;
Wander Mkhonza
Secretary General