Following a court eviction order, armed police stormed the building, shooting at random, reportedly injuring more than 40 workers and killing one woman. In 1995, police opened fire on striking workers at Maseru Clothing and Mustang Shoes, injuring 18 workers, one of them seriously. In 1993, three textile and apparel sector companies dismissed their entire work forces, amounting to over 1,500 workers, when workers there formed unions. Observance of workers' human rights in Swaziland is even more rare than in Lesotho. There, an official of a trade union federation who calls a strike can be punished by a fine or a maximum of five years' imprisonment, or both, and subsequently can be banned for five years from holding trade union office.
Police can attend union meetings.
Police intimidation and violence against trade union demonstrations and strikes are ruthless. In August 1994 police killed one worker and seriously wounded others during a month-long strike at a sugar company. Government agents attempted to murder the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions' General Secretary in 1995. The current bill before the Subcommittee would create a situation in which South African apparel workers face the reality of investment shifting to those countries where labor costs are lower because of human rights abuses. In Uganda, the Uganda Textile, Garment, Leather and Allied Workers' Union is the sole union organizing in the apparel sector.