Fedusa supports footwear strike

THE Federation of Unions of SA (Fedusa) supports the protected strike by the National Union of Leather Workers (Nulaw), a Fedusa affiliate and the majority trade union in the National Bargaining Council of the Leather Industry of SA that brings together about 10 000 footwear workers, employed in more than 100 companies.

The Southern African Clothing and Textiles Workers’ Union (Sactwu) is also participating in the protected strike.

Thousands of footwear workers embarked on a national protected wage strike on July 9 demanding a wage increase of 9.5% based on the fact that VAT increased to 15% and the number of fuel price (increases) in 2018 has eroded the disposable income of working people in South Africa.

The protected strike will affect footwear factories in the major cities such as Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, George, Oudtshoorn and Johannesburg.

Footwear workers are concerned about the negative impact that the Fourth Industrial Revolution would have on the manufacturing of footwear in the country and have demanded that a Job Protection Fund be established under the auspices of the National Bargaining Council of the Leather Industry of SA in order to re-skill workers to be able to operate the new modern manufacturing equipment and protecting jobs.

Footwear workers are also demanding that family responsibility leave provisions be extended to include spouses of union members.

Nulaw received calls from some employers indicating a willingness to resolve the strike, however we have advised them to contact their association, the SA Footwear and Leather Industries Association (Saflia).

Nulaw is a founder member of the National Bargaining Council of the Leather Industry of SA, which was established in 1928 and cannot engage individual employers.

Nulaw stands ready to finalise the wage dispute and calls on Saflia to return to the bargaining table.