The retrenchment of 1,450 jobs at Swaziland's largest textile manufacturer Tex Ray draws attention to the continuing exploitation of workers in the kingdom.
Tex Ray is one of a number of textile companies from Taiwan which set up factories in Swaziland to exploit cheap labour, government subsidies, tax breaks and the kingdom's status under the Africa Growth Opportunities Act (AGOA), which allowed manufactured goods to be exported to the United States tariff free.
But, as Swaziland is set to lose its AGOA status on 1 January 2015 because of its poor record on worker rights, in particular protecting freedom of association and the right to organize, Tex Ray is to massively down-size and other Taiwanese-owned textile factories in the kingdom are expected to follow.
Tex Ray told local media in Swaziland it would retrench its workforce because it would make a financial loss when AGOA benefits were removed. Only 250 workers will remain at the company.
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