TUCOSWA was formed in January 2012 and in 2013 had 35,000 members.

It was initially recognised and registered by the Eswatini government.

The Eswatini government chose to deregister TUCOSWA in April 2013, in violation of the rules of the International Labour Organization (ILO)[1] (convention 87)[2] that Eswatini has ratified.

Eswatini is therefore in effect without an overarching trade union federation, as the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions and the Swaziland Federation of Labour that formed TUCOSWA disbanded their organisations upon the formation of TUCOSWA.

[6][7][8] South African Trade Union Federation COSATU and Danish NGO Africa Contact started a campaign to lift the ban on TUCOSWA during July 2013.