Adjournment of debate on amendments to the Employment Act |16 May 2020

Mr Robinson

Seychelles Federation of Workers’ Union reacts

Following the National Assembly’s vote on Wednesday to adjourn debate on amendments to the Employment Act proposed by the executive to protect employees from the impact of COVID-19, the secretary-general of the Seychelles Federation Workers’ Union (SFWU), Antoine Robinson, has said that the SFWU strongly supports the bill and urged the assembly to give its approval to it at its next sitting.

The following is the SFWU’s comments:

“The right to work is enshrined in the universal Declaration of Human Rights and recognised in international human rights law. In the constitution of the Republic of Seychelles, part 1, Seychellois charter of fundamental and human rights and freedom in article 25 is the right to work. The Employment Act 1995 makes provision for the protection of employment and wages in line with the ILO conventions ratified by Seychelles. Our constitution also makes provision for the right to decent work for all workers in Seychelles

“The SFWU would like to express it full support to the proposed bill which was tabled to the National Assembly by the Ministry of Employment, immigration and Civil Status. A piece of legislation which all workers were looking forward to  which would help put a stop to the injustices they are experiencing especially during this time of the COVID-19 pandemic and the serious impact it is having on their employment and salaries which is bringing serious consequences to their livelihood and that of their families.

“The SFWU on a daily basis represents our members and workers in general at their work places to address grievances or disputes, negotiate on employment matters including working conditions, contract of employment and salaries etc. Most of the time we find it very difficult and stressful to arrive at a dispute settlement with the employer without recourse to our existing labour laws and regulations. Sometimes even with the existing labour laws and regulations there still exist situations where workers’ rights continue to be abused.

“We workers need more than ever the support of the National Assembly to pass laws to protect us from work place injustices and send clear messages to those employers that continue to violate and abuse workers’ rights especially during this economic and labour market crises as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We workers are expecting the full support from the National Assembly to pass this bill.

“We have to accept that many of our workers are facing extreme difficulties with regard to the real threats of losing their jobs, non-payment of their wages or reduction of their wages, etc.

“The SFWU has alerted the employment department on several occasions to date on those violations and abuses especially during this pandemic crisis. We would like to commend the Ministry of Employment’s prompt decision to come up with this very timely piece of legislation to protect our workers.

“The SFWU and workers of Seychelles will not permit this to happen. We urge the National Assembly to support us and the workers of Seychelles to urgently restart the debate on the bill. We pray that the assembly would approve the bill in its next sitting with a large majority.

“To conclude the SFWU takes this opportunity to express it total concern over  delays in the financial assistance to the businesses to pay their workers’ salaries for the month of April. We urge the Ministry of Finance to urgently finalise all pending payment applications and ensure that such a situation is not repeated for the months of May and June.

“There should be more serious and effective consultations by government employers and workers and other stakeholders on the way forward after June 2020. Workers will need to be supported while they are taking the right decision to protect their livelihood and that of their families.”

Antoine Robinson

Secretary-general of the SFWU