Lesotho and Swaziland each lie entirely within South Africa's borders. They are small countries and each is considerably poorer than South Africa. And in each country, workers' rights are not respected. Most of the investment in the Lesotho textile and apparel sectors comes from South Africa and Taiwan. Many companies pay below the minimum wage, and have very long working hours - often locking workers in until an order is finished.
Employers refuse sick-pay leave and engage in almost constant unfair dismissal practices.
In many factories, deductions are made from wages for workers found talking, or using the toilet more than once a day. On several occasions police have addressed workers at factory floor level advising them to leave the union, or elect new leaders, or allow the police to form a union for them. Lesotho maintains several export-oriented industrial zones where 70 percent of employment is in the textiles, garment and leather sectors. Lesotho's labor law is supposed to apply in the country's industrial zones, but police stations at the entrances to the zones stop union organizers from getting in. The U.S. State Department has noted in its annual human rights report that no legally sanctioned strike has occurred in Lesotho since independence in 1966, and that employees are often threatened with expulsion from the country and loss of employment once they join unions.