BY MBONO MDLULI
MBABANE – Trade unions in the country have been given 30 days to submit their financial reports, among other documents, to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.
Failure to do so will result in them being required to show cause why their registration documents should not be revoked by the Commissioner of Labour.
The Labour Ministry has issued a statement, expressing concerns that the labour organisations failed to submit their returns, despite that they are called upon by the law to do so. As a result, the Ministry has described the issued statement as a final call to the labour unions and some federations to do as expected.
“The Ministry of Labour and Social Security has noted that some labour market Organizations (that is, Trade Unions, Staff Associations and Federations) that are registered in terms of Section 26 and 27 of the Industrial Relations Act, No.1 of 2000 (as amended) are in continuous default to conduct and submit annual audited statements of account as required by the provisions of Section 31(1) of the Act. This is despite several reminders by the Ministry to do so,” said part of the statement.
In terms of the above-mentioned statutory provision, “every registered Organization shall submit to the Commissioner of Labour a return which shall include –
- The Organization’s current postal address;
- The names and postal addresses of its current officers;
- The number of members;
- The details of any amendments made to its constitution since the preceding return;
- A statement from a competent auditor that the Organization’s accounts were financially audited for the preceding financial year.”
In terms of Section 31(2) of the Act, “a copy of the return shall be kept in the Office of the Organization and shall be made available for inspection at the annual general meeting”. According to the statement, regrettably most Organizations, including some Federations, have not taken the Ministry’s correspondences reminding them about the above mentioned legal provisions seriously as these Organizations have failed to offer even a mere response to the Ministry’s reminders.
This is perceived as an indication that these Organizations are intentional in their perennial actions of violating the provisions of the law. Please note that this tendency has negative consequences in terms of ensuring that your Organization remains in “good standing”, warranting recognition in the Ministry’s tripartite structures and bodies. In the circumstances, ALL non-compliant labour market Organizations and Federations are given strictly thirty (30) working days to show cause why the Commissioner of Labour should not invoke the provisions of Section 31(3) of the Industrial Relations Act No. 1 of 2000 (as amended) without any further notice to your Organization.
According to this provision, “The Commissioner of Labour may apply to the Court for the suspension or withdrawal of registration of any organization which fails or refuses to submit a return in accordance with sub section (1) and after the directive referred to in section 33 has not been complied with.”