Maseru, Mar. 09 — Following chaos and stress Sun Textiles (Pty) Limited workers endured for the month of January due to non-wages payment, the company has paid the February wages without any hiccups. The Agency has discovered.
National Clothing Textile and Allied Workers Union (NACTWU) Secretary General Mr. Ts’epang Makakole confirmed this in an interview with the Agency on Thursday where he said that the workers got their February wages on the last day of the month without any problems.
He said that they hope that the company will continue keeping its end of the bargain by paying workers as they (workers) have done their bit.
Earlier in February, the workers downed tools and approached the Minister of Labour and Employment to intervene in the company failing to pay their wages. As a result the employer Ms. Jenny Feng requested to pay the workers in two batches of 50 percent each thus February 14 and 22.
However Ms. Feng who is reported to be running the factory from Taiwan paid the January wages later than the set days, fortunately for February she paid them on the 28th as it was ordered by the Minister of Labour and Employment during their meeting.
Meanwhile in December 2022, the workers of the same factory went on strike after they did not get their November wages but they were later paid.
Sun Textiles (Pty) Limited has been operating in Lesotho since 1995. It manufactures t-shirts and other garment products. It produces about 200 000 units per month for export to the United States under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) trade preferences.
AGOA gives duty-free and quota-free access to the US market to eligible Sub-Saharan African countries including Lesotho. The legislation, which was renewed for 10 years by US lawmakers in June 2015, is meant to incentivise African countries to open their economies and build free markets.
With the Lesotho factories, the lowest worker is paid M2,307 while the highest goes home with M2,575.
