Federation of workers’ union rounds up series of workshop |14 December 2017

The Seychelles Federation of Workers’ Union (SFWU) wrapped up its series of workshops on workers’ education for this year on Praslin and La Digue.

These half-day workshops were held on December 1 in the La Digue community centre and on December 2 at the Grand Anse Praslin Deepam Cinema auditorium.

Antoine Robinson, the secretary general of SFWU, stated that the two workshops were a resounding success with a turnout of 75 participants for each.

Organised under the theme ‘Harmonising Industrial Relations to Increase Productivity’, the workshops covered a range of topics such as the role of work unions, importance of joining these unions, rights and responsibilities of workers and education of workers.

Similar workshops were conducted in May and October for workers on Mahé.

“SFWU decided to take on this initiative because we believe that there is a huge misunderstanding between employers and employees in the country,” Mr Robinson explained.

“We cannot resolve problems by creating more problems hence we have to teach workers that they have the power to create forums and structures wherein employees and employers can come together to work things out.”

He went on to add that workers’ education is the key to productivity in the workplace.

Mr Robinson stated that the workshops on the inner islands raised almost identical concerns as on Mahé but, perhaps, what sets the workers on these islands apart from that on the main island is the difficulty in bringing forth their complaints to relevant institutions, as many of these institutions are based on Mahé.

For this reason the SFWU is planning to reinforce their presence on the islands in the near future in order to become more accessible to these workers.

“This is also why SFWU puts emphasis for workers to join trade unions, so that the unions can voice out the concerns on their behalf,” Mr Robinson insisted.

Aside from workshops for workers, SFWU will also be organising capacity building trainings for trade union representatives with the aim of creating representatives who are well versed in work regulations and legislations such as the Employment Act.

When asked on the SFWU’s vision for the Seychelles workforce, Mr Robinson mentioned that the government should create a conducive environment for employment through the revision of certain legislations so that it can reflect the realities of this day and age.

In this respect, he urged the government to review its decision on the introduction of the Progressive Income Tax (PIT) for January 2018 instead of July 2018.

“By then the year will be half-way done and workers have to cope with an increase in utility bills, fuel prices, bus fares and other predicted price increase.”

SFWU safeguards the rights of workers in the private and public sectors and represents the Seychelles Transport and General Workers Union (STGWU) and the Teachers, Medical and other Public service employees Union (TMPU).