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By NOKUPHILA HAJI | 2024-10-22
TQM Textiles workers are reportedly frustrated after their working days were drastically reduced by their employer.
The workers claim what they dubbed ‘short time’ was prompted by a reported shortage of fabric orders.
The ‘short time’ according to a worker started last week.
They said with the ‘short time’ having being introduced, they now worked three days in a week.
She said ever since the issue started, they had not been paid, but would be paid on Friday.
She said when making her calculations, the money that she would be receiving would not be more than E500 in a fortnight.
She said before they were engaged on the ‘short time’, they got paid E1 200 per fortnight.
She said they would sometimes receive more if they worked on a Friday or Saturday.
She said the money that she would be getting month end would not cover all her basic needs since it would be plus or minus E1 200, which was half of what she usually gets.
“I am already stressed and frustrated since I will not be able to cover rent and bus fare. We cannot even express ourselves because we might get laid off since same happened last year and others were laid off,” she said.
She said there were over 300 employees at the firm because some of them were dying the fabrics, while others were milling the textiles.
She said all departments were affected since lesser stock was being shipped and sold daily.
Another employee added that they were unable to find piece jobs as they were only alerted in the morning that they had to report to work.
She said her last day was on Tuesday after being called to work on Monday.
“There is no schedule being followed, but they call us to work daily. My issue now is that I cannot find another job on the side because I do not know when I will be called to work. The whole thing is frustrating because we are technically not working,” she said.
She added that what was concerning to her was that she would work for approximately five days this fortnight which she said would not be enough to cover her and her son.
In response, TQM textiles Hiring Manager Nhlanhla Fakudze confirmed that the workers were being engaged on short time, adding that they were hoping that by November 1 they would be back to normal working days.
He confirmed that the short time started on October 14.
Fakudze said they were having engagements with some of the people in the industry both locally and internationally so that they reverted to normalcy.
“The main challenge which resulted to short time is in getting orders. The textile and manufacturing industries is facing challenges, however, our superiors are trying to find solutions,” he said.
Fakudze added that this was not the first time such happened in the firm.
He added that everything that they do was transparent, highlighting that they consulted and informed the employees about the situation prior. Fakudze said the whole issue was frustrating even to them since all of the involved parties were suffering.
On that note, Managing Director (MD) at Far East Textiles and Business Women Eswatini Chairperson Tokky Hou said they do not usually have challenges in getting orders during this time of the year.
She said what she was aware of was that they had been working on a countdown since they would be closing sooner and people were working overtime because there was a bit of work.
“There is no one that I have heard complaining about being down on work. I can assure you that everyone is at their busiest,” she said.
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