Rocklands Mill workers protest over no-work, no-pay
PIGG’S PEAK – About 100 employees at Rocklands Mill downed tools to picket over ‘no-work-no-pay’.
The employees were demanding to be paid for the three days they were away due to ongoing protests in the country about a fortnight ago. The protests were organised by members of the public transport sector.
Yesterday, they gathered at the company premises where they briefly picketed.
According to the employees, their employer had shut down the mill during the recent protest as a safety measure, advising the workers to go home until it was over. The workers said they were told to go home because some unionists had visited the company to demand that it should release the employees to participate in the protest. They said not all the employees wanted to participate in the protest though some did.
Manager
“We were then told by a manager to go home and not return until the protests were over,” said one of the employees who spoke on behalf of the picketers.
He said concerned employees had also asked whether they would be paid and that they were advised that some would have to be paid off their leave days. However, not all of them had extra leave days. For this reason, the workers said they would not be paid for the days they were away.
During their picket, the workers started with a sit-in to wait for the manager to address them on the issue. They then briefly picketed while singing.
The workers also used yesterday’s picketing to lament that they were not able to meet as workers because of the working shifts.
The workers further revealed that they would continue picketing until their demands were met. “All we want is an audience with management so that we can address this issue,” they said.
Martin Motsa, who is the company’s Mill Manager, said he would not comment. “We are still working on that matter,” he said.
Meanwhile, Rockland Mills is not the only company whose employees had been told to go home. This was the situation for many other organisations where safety was noted as the main reason to allow the employees to be at home while monitoring the political unrest in the country.
It was also previously reported in the Times of Eswatini that Eswatini Plantations had temporarily closed due to the protests.