Clothing sector wages agreement extended
A CONTROVERSIAL bargaining council wage agreement in the clothing industry has been extended, the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (Sactwu) said yesterday.
“This is a significant development and a great victory for Sactwu members. It further strengthens our claim that those employers who secured a recent judgment have won a temporary and ‘hollow’ victory,” it said.
In March, the high court in Pietermaritzburg set aside a decision by Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant to extend the “national main collective agreement” of the National Bargaining Council to “non-parties” in the clothing industry. This meant clothing manufacturers that were not part of the council did not have to apply the minimum wage agreements.
However, the extension gazetted by Ms Oliphant made its terms legally binding on all clothing employers and workers in all parts of SA, Sactwu said. It also empowered the bargaining council to prosecute employers who did not comply.
“We recognise and applaud those non-party employers who have already voluntarily implemented the new minimum wage levels,” Sactwu said, but warned that if employers did not comply, it would have to ensure that the bargaining council intensified its compliance enforcement processes; and would invoke its “now gazetted and extended ‘unfettered right’ to strike”.
“We now require all those employers, such as those in nonmetro areas like Newcastle, Isithebe, Botshabelo, Mogwase, Ladysmith, etc, as well as those employers who ran to court instead of joining the wage negotiations process, to immediately comply with the law.”
At the time of the court case, five Taiwanese-owned factories and the United Clothing and Textile Association asked the court to set aside the minimum wages set by the bargaining council. Judge Piet Koen ruled that factories which were not members of the council could hold separate talks about pay levels with their workers.
Ms Oliphant has given notice that the extension would come into effect next Tuesday and has extended its legal duration until the end of August 2016.