SA Govt to tackle imports & Lesotho workers want more

RECOMMENDATIONS by the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) to combat customs fraud in clothing, textile and footwear imports could produce useful gains, but an over- zealous attempt to eliminate trade-related transgressions would do more harm than the problem itself, University of Cape Town school of economics professor Don Ross said this week.

SA’s clothing, textile and footwear manufacturing industries have been struggling to compete with cheaper imports for many years, but particularly so in the past couple of years when some large businesses have been forced to close. Suggestions to save the industry range from higher import tariffs to stricter control at borders.

Nedlac released its report last week after a three-month probe. It looked at all forms of customs fraud including under-invoicing, false declarations, misuse of duty rebates and corruption by officials. The report has now been submitted to the relevant Cabinet ministers.

Nedlac’s key recommendations were that customs officials be armed with a reference pricing mechanism so they could recognise under-priced imports, and that seized goods be disposed of in a way that would not disrupt the South African market. The task team considered having dedicated ports of entry for these goods but noted the South African Revenue Service and the Department of Trade and Industry were still preparing a policy on the issue.

Although customs fraud was generally punished by fines because this was the fastest method, the task team said criminal action should be pursued in certain cases, depending on the value involved. They also emphasised the need for stricter enforcement of rules of origin because Southern African Customs Union members were being used as conduits for imports at lower duty.

Some of the recommendations requiring legislative changes should be incorporated into the Customs Act, which is being revised, they said.

Ross said most of SA’s clothing producers, aside from some speciality firms that make high-value- added products for niche markets, could not compete with imports from Asia and Lesotho (see story below) even if all illegal activities associated with the border were eliminated .

Most of the border smuggling was of cheaper items, which were unlikely to be seen as a priority by customs officials dealing with drugs, arms and stolen goods, Ross said.

Nedlac’s suggestions of creating dedicated ports or sector-specific import permits could give rise to costs that would exceed the benefits they would produce.

“Of course it’s reasonable to co-ordinate and tighten up international monitoring of rules of origin. However, it should be borne in mind that all such rules are notoriously loophole prone, always and everywhere,” he said.

“We shouldn’t forget that among principal beneficiaries of under-invoicing and smuggling are poorer South Africans who save money on a non-optional consumption item that takes up a larger share of their expenditures than is the case for middle-class or rich people,” Ross said.
Ref: Business Day: C. Mathews. 26/9/09

LESOTHO Sept 09
MASERU – Workers in the apparel industry are demanding a M1,500 monthly take-home pay and a review of their working conditions.

Worker representatives from several major apparel factories in the Thetsane Industrial Area this week petitioned the National Assembly portfolio committee overseeing labour issues to seek a pay hike.

The workers, who represented Suntextiles, C&Y, CGM, Santikon and Tai-Yuan textile companies, handed the petition to portfolio committee clerk ’Mankopane Thabane.

However, Thabane could not receive the petition in person as she was said to be tied up in other office engagements. Portfolio committee chairperson ’Matšotetsi Mpesi was also reportedly ill.

Present in a show of solidarity were Lesotho Workers’ Party legislators Sello Maphalla and Rosa Lenea.

Factory Workers’ Union officials present at the handing over of the petition told Public Eye that it was the beginning of a larger campaign to force government to heed their requests.

“We agreed that only a few representatives will bring the letter of grievances to the House, but a massive show of force to see this petition attended to is in the offing,” said Seabata Likoti of FAWU.

He said factory employees work in the most disheartening conditions and had nothing to show for it, a situation he said needed redress.

The Labour Code Wages Amendment Order of 2008 puts the minimum wage for a textile general worker at M741; a textile machinery operator is paid M797, while a textile machine operator trainee earns M741 a month.

Employees with more than 12 months of continuous service with the same employer (trained machine operators) are set a monthly income of M839, while a textile general worker pockets M790.

In their plea for better working conditions, the workers also demand that: their terminal benefits be untaxed; that the six weeks’ maternity leave applicable for factory workers be reviewed to bring it in line with the three months enjoyed by other sectors; and that the labour minister should take familiarisation tours of the factories at least twice a year to appraise himself of the working conditions of the workers.

In addition the workers want their working hours be reviewed, with a view to shortening them to the normal eight-hour day starting from 8am to 5pm, and that their general working conditions, inclusive of machinery, clothing, cooling and heating systems, be standardised to ensure safety.

Ref: Public Eye Newspapers

South African Clothing Industry Strike: 2009

News and Updates on the strike by SACTWU

26 September 2009: SACTWU to issue secondary strike notice to textile industry

The 10th National Congress of COSATU, which concluded yesterday, adopted a resolution in support of the 10-day old national wage strike by 55,000 clothing workers. The resolution authorised secondary strike action in those sectors which are linked to the clothing industry.

SACTWU has resolved to issue a secondary strike notice later today to the textile industry. This means that close to 15,000 textile workers, which have a nexus with the clothing industry, may go on strike next week in support of the clothing wage strike, should no settlement be reached this weekend.

Tomorrow, the CCMA conciliates the clothing wage dispute at the National Bargaining Council for the Clothing Manufacturing Industry in Cape Town in a high-level attempt to find a settlement between the trade union and clothing employers.

23 September 2009
COSATU CONGRESS ADOPTS SPECIAL RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF CLOTHING INDUSTRY STRIKE

SACTWU welcomes the development that the COSATU Congress has today pledged concrete support for the ongoing national clothing wage strike. The Congress has unanimously adopted a Special Resolution on the matter. The Congress has noted that
• 55,000 clothing workers across the country have been on a living wage strike since 15 September 2009
• Clothing workers are the lowest paid workers in the manufacturing sector, with a minimum wage of R326 per week for a machinist in areas such as Ladysmith, Botshabelo, Qwa Qwa, Isithebe, Caledon & Newcastle
• 80% of all clothing workers are women, mostly single parents supporting between 5 and 7 dependants on a very low wage
• Clothing retailers have made unprecedented profits over the last few years and even continue to make substantial profits during this recession
• The clothing industry employs large numbers of workers in some of the poorest parts of the country where few other job opportunities exist
• There is large non-compliance in the clothing and some other industries

The Congress has pronounced that it regarded the clothing workers' struggle for a living wage as just and the demands of clothing workers as reasonable.
The Congress resolved to:
• Call on clothing employers to grant the just and reasonable demands of striking clothing workers
• Campaign for a revision of employment law to criminalise non-compliance with collective agreements, including by those businesses which source from non-compliant companies
• Support clothing workers in their struggles, including authorising secondary strikes in all those sectors where a nexus exist with the clothing industry
• Instruct COSATU to coordinate support and solidarity across the affiliates, social movements and the broader society; as well as international solidarity.

20 SEPTEMBER 2009
SACTWU ACCEPTS CCMA OFFER TO HELP FIND A SOLUTION TO CLOTHING STRIKE
On Tuesday 15 September 2009, a 55 000 clothing workers embarked on a national wage strike in support of their wage demands. The clothing employers met at a national meeting of their negotiating team on that afternoon and the next morning submitted a written revised wage offer to the trade union. In brief, the offer is for an 8% wage increase tightly linked to certain conditions.
The conditions state that workers must agree to loose part of their wage earnings if they are absent from work, even in instances where such absence are legally authorised.
The employers have advised that their offer is open for acceptance until 06h00 today.
On Friday 18 September 2009, the trade union advised them that we have rejected their revised offer because it is not a new offer (the very same offer was tabled to and rejected by the union on 26 August 2009), because it does not provide for a decent increase for non-metro area workers (who are the lowest paid in the industry with a machinist's minimum wage at R326 per week) and because the conditionalities attached are not accepatble to our members.
We have no idea why employers have tabled the same offer which was already rejected three weeks ago when there was no strike.

We have earlier today received a letter from the Director of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), offering to assist to resolve the dispute. The offer is made in terms of Section 150 of the Labour Relations Act (LRA).
This section states as follows:
"If the Commission is aware of a dispute that has not been referred to it and if resolution of the dispute would be in the public interest, the Commission may offer to appoint qa commissioner to attempt to resolve the dispute through conciliation"

The CCMA has also stated that there offer to assist is also because the clothing industry has been identified in the NEDLAC-agreed South Africa's Frameoiwrk Responce to the International Economic Crises as in need of special assistance, as well because it has received special mention in President Jacob Zuma's State of the Nation Address.

The CCMA has offered to appoint a senior conciliator to mediate the dispute at its Johannesburg Head Office from 10h00 on Tuesday 22 September 2009.

In terms of Section 150, the parties must consent to this process.SACTWU has accepted the CCMA's offer as we believe that even though our strike is growing stronger by the day, it is always better to find a settlement thereof. We have no idea whether the employers will accept the CCMA offer.

It is within the means of the employers to solve this dispute and the strike. We call on them to do so sooner rather than later. Our wage demand is reasonable and affordable.
Issued by SACTWU


Sunday, 20 September 2009
Does Sactwu leadership endorse intimidation?
Comment:
Chris Gina Sactwu's national organising secretary and Andre Kriel Sactwu's General Secretary were informed of the unruly and disgraceful behaviour of their members in Durban by ReDress. However neither have responded. Does their silence mean they indorse intimidation and threats of violence by their members? As one commentator said, "the ballot is a joke. The choice given to Sactwu members to say YES or NO to the strike is a sham. Just have one choice YES to the ballot because even if you say NO you are threatened by Sactwu strikers to not work."

Friday, 18 September 2009
Chaos: Textile workers strike fear
Sharlene Packree
CHAOS broke out in Durban when a group of striking textile workers went on a rampage and intimidated non-striking workers yesterday.
Workers are demanding a 7,9% wage increase, however, employers have offered a five percent increase.
The wage increase was due to take effect on September 1, but negotiations have been delayed. Armed with sticks and traditional weapons, a group of 40 workers entered the Ascot building in Umbilo and intimidated workers. The group ran into the building and verbally threatened workers. The SAPS flying squad were called in to disperse the crowd. A witness told The Witness that the protesters ran into offices threatening workers with vulgar language and wooden sticks. “It was scary. They were quite noisy and were armed with large sticks. We called the police who got rid of them,” she said, adding that it was unfair to threaten non-striking workers.
The Witness


18 September 2009
Clothing strike likely to continue
The clothing workers' strike was likely to continue in parts of the country even if agreement was reached on Friday afternoon to end the four day strike, the SA Clothing and Textile Workers Union (Sactwu) said. "It has come to our attention that there are still thousands of workers who are being paid below the legal wage rate. This means that the pay increase will mean nothing to them," Sactwu national organising secretary Chris Gina told media in Durban on Friday. It is Sactwu members went on a nation-wide wage strike on Tuesday, demanding a 7.9 percent salary increase in cities and an 11.5 percent wage hike in rural areas.

"Even if the last revised offer is accepted, workers who are underpaid will definitely continue with the strike," said Gina.

Workers in KwaZulu-Natal's Isithebe area and Free State's Botshabelo and Qwaqwa were expected to continue striking even if the revised offer was accepted.

"We want employers in those areas to close the gap that exists between their employees and those who work in the metropolitan areas."

The legal wage for a qualified machinist was R399 per week but in some factories in Isithebe, Botshabelo and Qwaqwa, machinists were earning as little as R126 per week.

"In Botshabelo, based on a survey of 19 factories jointly employing almost 2000 workers, the average actual wage paid to a machinist is R241 per week. The lowest paid in this area is R126 per week," said Gina.

The situation was the same in Qwaqwa and Botshabelo, he said.

Gina said it was sad that most garments produced in the three areas were apparently bought by retailers such as Edgars, Pep Stores, Woolworths and Mr Price.

"We have pleaded with them to source ethically but with very little success. No corrective action has been taken by them and they simply deny that they source their goods from these factories," he said.

A formal announcement on the outcome of negotiations on the last revised offer would be made by the union on Friday afternoon or Saturday morning, said Gina.

"We will call a media briefing as soon as discussions have been finalised."



18 SEPTEMBER 2009
SACTWU RESPONSE TO CLOTHING EMPLOYERS' "REVISED" WAGE OFFER
On Tuesday 15 September 2009, a massive 55 000 clothing workers embarked on a national wage strike in support of their wage demands. The clothing employers met at a national meeting of their negotiating team on that afternoon and the next morning submitted a written revised wage offer to the trade union. In brief, the offer is for an 8% wage increase tightly linked to certain conditions.
The purpose of this press release is clarify the trade union's response to the employers' revised offer. We start by explaining the details of the employer revised offer.
The details of the employers' revised offer (with explanatory notes by the union) are as follows:
An increase to total labour cost of 8% for metro and non-metro workers. (Their previous wage offer was a 5% wage increase which amounted to between R19 and R32 per week. The union is demanding a 7.9% wage increase for metro area workers with the same rand amount for non-metro area workers. The union demand equates to a weekly age increase of between R45 and R50).
The employers' revised wage proposal is conditional on the union agreeing to the following new terms of employment:
1. The 'aggregation of overtime' provision in the clothing industry main agreement shall apply without any exclusions. In other words, all forms of absence shall be taken into account for the purpose of making up the employee's full weekly hours before overtime rates are earned. (This means that workers' must agree that their overtime earnings must be docked if they are absent for any reason, even if that reason is a reason recognised in law such as when a worker has a legitimate sick certificate from a medical practitioner, or uses legal Family Responsibility Leave to attend the funeral of a close relative such as a spouse or child, etc. Currently, the exclusions enshrined in the main agreement and which the employers now want removed are as follows: time not worked as a result of legal industrial action; time not worked as a result of a public holiday declared in terms of the Public Holiday's Act; time not worked as a result of the employer having declared short time; authorised shop stewards' time off for trade union activities; time not worked as a result of any authorised absenteeism).
This proposal is not new and is part of the employers' immediate previous proposal. This proposal was previously rejected by the trade union and identified as a major stumbling block to a settlement.
2. A provision to be included in the agreement which provides for all forms of remuneration such as annual leave, annual bonus and the employer contributions to the workers' Provident Fund, to be calculated on actual attendance.
This is not a new proposal and was part of the employers' immediate previous proposal. This proposal was also previously rejected by the trade union and identified as a major stumbling block to a settlement.
3. The employers' support the trade union's proposal for the establishment of a Productivity Institute under the auspices of the National Bargaining Council for the Clothing Industry as well as the trade union's proposals to improve the compliance drive of the bargaining council i.e, making more factories comply with the terms and conditions set out in the national main agreement for the industry.
This is not new and has been agreed very early in the negotiations, about 6 months' ago already.
4. A process with clear timelines for the purpose of 'modernising' the industry main agreement in such areas as keeping exemptions to an absolute minimum, speeding up operational decisions at plant level, making provisions for shift work, flexible annual leave, limiting consultations at plant level to reasonable time frames and introducing dead lock breaking mechanisms where such consultations are stalled beyond such time frames.
This is not a new proposal and has been agreed to a few months' ago, on the following basis: that the trade union will also add its list of issues that it wants included in these post-negotiations discussions about the modernisation of the agreement, that 'modernising the main agreement' is not to be interpreted to mean down-ward variation in terms and conditions of employment, that the list of issues mentioned by the employers is not automatically agreed to but would form the subject of discussions going forward.
5. The employers have advised that their new revised offer '...is open for consideration and acceptance by the trade union and its members until Sunday 20 September 2009 at 06h00". They have advised that if the union accepts the offer, the increases would be backdated to 1 September 2009, which is the original implementation date when increases were due.
The trade union's Head Office has spent the last two and half days briefing its national- and regional leadership about the details of the employers' revised offer. We convened shop stewards' councils through-out the country to provide further feedback to our leadership in our branches and seek mandates directly from over 50 000 clothing workers employed in about a 1 000 workplaces spread throughout the country.
This mandating process has been completed for all parts of the country, except in the Western Cape. In the Western Cape, we expect that the mandating process will be completed by Monday before lunch-time.
We have, earlier today and before this press conference, advised the employers of the outcome of our mandating processes to date.
Our response, as we speak now, is as follows:
What the employers call "a revised offer", is actually not a revised offer. It is word for word the same as an offer that was tabled to the trade union at a Leadership negotiation meeting held three weeks ago, on 26 August 2009, at the clothing bargaining council offices in Cape Town. At that meeting, the trade union leadership indicated very clearly that such an offer would not be acceptable to our members. We are completely puzzled why, three weeks later, the employers table the very same offer which was rejected by the trade union as far back as three weeks ago.
In all parts of the country, other than in the Western Cape yet, our members have summarily rejected the employers' 'so-called revised' offer. Western Cape members will only be consulted on Monday.
In the Western Cape, we held a Special Regional Shop Stewards' Council meeting yesterday. Attended by over 600 shop stewards representing all companies where we are on strike. This meeting has also rejected the employers' offer, subject to what their members will be saying when they are consulted on Monday.
The problems with the employer offer, as identified by the trade union leadership and our members and conveyed to the employers as far back as three weeks ago are as follows:
a.. While 8% is acceptable as an increase for metro workers (provided the employers drop their conditionalities), it is not acceptable for non-metro workers as it fails to address the union's demand for the unacceptably wide gap between metro and non-metro wage levels to be narrowed. The minimum wage for a machinist in the non-metro area is R326 per week. On the minimum wage for a machinist of R326 in the non-metro areas, an 8% increase means a R26 per week increase for a worker who works in areas such as Caledon, Ladysmith, Newcastle, QwaQwa, Botshabelo, Isithebe and Despatch.
a.. The 8% is conditional to very stringent conditions which attacks workers legal right to authorised leave from work: workers are being asked to lose earnings for all forms of absences from work, even instances of authorised leave from work such as in the case of sick leave with a legitimate doctor's certificate or where a worker uses his/her Family Responsibility Leave to attend the funeral of his her close relative.
a.. The 8% is also conditional on very stringent conditions where, even when a worker has legitimate authorised leave, their annual leave-, annual bonus and very importantly, contributions to their retirement fund will be reduced. The last national strike in this industry was a three week strike which took place exactly 13 years ago, in September 1996. The main issue during that strike was for better retirement provisions for clothing workers. We cannot imagine that workers will now accept that the improvements in retirement fund provisions which they won through bitter struggle in 1996 will now be given up.
We will wait for the outcome of the Western Cape workers' mandate on Monday but, unless there is a miracle between now and then, we do not expect that our members will accept the employers 'revised offer'.
In fact, since the employers' have tabled their "revised offer", our strike has grown stronger. Hundreds of workers who up until now have not been SACTWU members have flocked to our offices to join the trade union. Most say they want to be part of the strike. It shows the deep concerns that workers have with the conditionalities attached to their wage offer.
It is within the means of the employers to solve this dispute and the strike. We call on them to do so sooner rather than later. Our wage demand is reasonable and affordable.
Issued by
Andre Kriel


16 September 2009
Cops use rubber bullets on strikers
Durban - Police had to use rubber bullets to disperse striking workers at a clothing factory in Danskraal near Ladysmith on Wednesday morning, KwaZulu-Natal police said. "At about 06:30 police had to use rubber bullets to disperse a crowd of striking clothing factory workers that were throwing stones at other workers that were working at the factory," said Inspector Nirvan Sibran. The SA Clothing and Textile Workers' Union (Sactwu) embarked on a national strike on Tuesday.
Sactwu is demanding a 7.9% salary increase in cities and an 11.5% wage hike in rural areas, where it says workers are earning "much less" than their counterparts in the city. Sibran said on Tuesday police were also called to the scene where they arrested 20 people for public violence. "Striking factory workers were demanding that the workers from the factory also join them with the strike. When the factory staff emerged from the factory premises strikers began to hurl stones at them.
"The police then had to intervene and arrested 20 people under the public violence act," he said. Sibran said the situation was calm at the moment.
"The 20 people that were arrested are expected to appear at the Ladysmith Magistrate’s Court between Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning," said Sibran.
Referece: SAPA

THE Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (Sactwu) today (September 17) accused police of manhandling its members, following the arrest of about 140 clothing workers, who are on a legal wage strike in Johannesburg.
“The workers were peacefully picketing in front of clothing factories in support of their wage demands,” the union said. It said based on initial information, police arrived and striking members offered to disperse. “Before they could do so, police started firing teargas and rubber bullets. “Louisah Modikwe, the Sactwu Organiser present at the time, was smacked and manhandled by a police officer. One worker has been taken to hospital,” the union charged. Sactwu added most of the arrested workers were female and had been locked up at Jeppe Police Station in Market Street in Johannesburg. The union said it was disturbed by developments. “We call on the police to act with extreme restraint when dealing with our members, who are engaged in legitimate, legally sanctioned industrial action and who are exercising their rights peacefully,” it concluded.
Reference: I-Net Bridge


16 SEPTEMBER 2009
PRESS RELEASE: IMMEDIATE -15h50
SACTWU RESPONSE TO CLOTHING EMPLOYERS' REVISED WAGE OFFER

The Southern African Clothing & Textile Workers' Union (SACTWU) confirms that it has this morning received a written revised wage offer from clothing employers, following the commencement of a national wage strike by about 55 000 clothing workers yesterday, 15 September 2009. The purpose of this press release is clarify the content of the employers' revised offer and the trade union's response thereto.

The details of the employers' revised offer (with explanatory notes by the union) are as follows:

An increase to total labour cost of 8% for metro and non-metro workers. (Their previous offer was 5% and the union was demanding a a 7.9% wage increase for metro workers and the rand equivalent for non-metro workers).

The employers' revised wage proposal is conditional on the union agreeing to the following new terms of employment:

1. The aggregation of overtime provision in the clothing industry main agreement shall apply without any exclusions. In other words, all forms of absence shall be taken into account for the purpose of making up the employee's full weekly hours before overtime rates are earned. (This means that workers' must agree that their overtime earnings must be docked if they are absent for any reason, even if that reason is a reason recognised in law such as when a worker has a legitimate sick certificate from a medical practitioner, or uses legal Family Responsibility Leave to attend the funeral of a close relative etc. Currently, the exclusions enshrined in the main agreement and which the employers now want removed are as follows: time not worked as a result of legal industrial action; time not worked as a result of a public holiday declared in terms of the Public Holiday's Act; time not worked as a result of the employer having declared short time; authorised shop stewards' time off for trade union activities; time not worked as a result of any authorised absenteeism).

This proposal is not new and is part of the employers' immediate previous proposal. This proposal was previously rejected by the trade union and identified as a major stumbling block to a settlement.

2. A provision to be included in the agreement which provides for all forms of remuneration such as annual leave, annual bonus and the employer contributions to the workers' Provident Fund, to be calculated on actual attendance.

This is not a new proposal and was part of the employers' immediate previous proposal. This proposal was also previously rejected by the trade union and identified as a major stumbling block to a settlement.

3. The employers' support the trade union's proposal for the establishment of a Productivity Institute under the auspices of the National Bargaining Council for the Clothing Industry as well as the trade union's proposals to improve the compliance drive of the bargaining council i.e, making more factories comply with the terms and conditions set out in the national main agreement for the industry.

This is not new and has been agreed very early in the negotiations, about 6 months' ago already.

4. A process with clear timelines for the purpose of 'modernising' the industry main agreement in such areas as keeping exemptions to an absolute minimum, speeding up operational decisions at plant level, making provisions for shift work, flexible annual leave, limiting consultations at plant level to reasonable time frames and introducing dead lock breaking mechanisms where such consultations are stalled beyond such time frames.

This is not a new proposal and has been agreed to a few months' ago, on the following basis: that the trade union will also add its list of issues that it wants included in these post-negotiations discussions about the modernisation of the agreement, that 'modernising the main agreement' is not to be interpreted to mean down-ward variation in terms and conditions of employment, that the list of issues mentioned by the employers is not automatically agreed to but would form the subject of discussions going forward.

5. The employers have advised that their new revised offer '...is open for consideration and acceptance by the trade union and its members until Sunday 20 September 2009 at 06h00".

Standing back: the only difference in the employers revised offer is that it has increased the total labour cost component from 5% to 8%.

The trade union's Head Office has spent the first half of today briefing its national- and regional leadership about the details of the employers' revised offer. We will now convene shop stewards' councils througout the country to provide further feedback to our leadership in our branches and seek mandates directly from over 50 000 clothing workers employed in about a 1 000 workplaces spread throughout the country. We anticipate that this mandating process will be concluded by late morning on Friday 18 September 2009. There-after, we expect to provide the employers with feedback, prior to their deadline of 20 September 2009.
Issued by Andre Kriel SACTWU General Secretary


16 SEPTEMBER 2009
PRESS RELEASE: IMMEDIATE

Yesterday 15 September 2009, 55 000 clothing workers embarked on a national wage strike in support of their wage demands. The clothing employers met at a national meeting of their negotiating team yesterday afternoon and have this morning submitted a written revised wage offer to the trade union. In brief, the offer is for an 8% wage increase tightly linked to certain conditions. Their previous wage offer was a 5% wage increase which amounted to between R19 and R32 per week. The union is demanding a 7.9% wage increase for metro area workers with the same rand amount for non-metro area workers. The union demand equates to a weekly age increase of between R45 and R50. This is a preliminary statement by the union in response the employers' revised offer: SACTWU is in the process of analysing the detail of the employers' revised offer. We will be consulting with our regions and branches througout the country for the most part of this morning. We will issue a more detailed press statement about our response by about lunch-time today. In the interim, the strike will continue today.
Issued by
Andre Kriel
SACTWU

CLOTHING STRIKE STARTS
15 SEPTEMBER 2009
PRESS RELEASE: IMMEDIATE
THOUSANDS OF CLOTHING WORKERS EMBARK ON NATIONAL WAGE STRIKE

The clothing industry came to a standstill today as tens of thousands of members of the Southern African Clothing & Textile Workers' Union (SACTWU) have commenced a national wage strike in support of their wage demands.

The strike commenced early this morning, when workers started the day with general meetings at their workplaces. By between 09h00 - 09h30 they had clocked out, held brief protest actions in front of their workplaces and then dispursed to go home because the union had called for the strike action to be in the form of a stayaway from work today.

By 12h30 today, the trade union had completed a survey to measure the extent of support for the strike. Nationally, a total of 336 factories jointly employing about 33 000 workers were surveyed. The preliminary outcome indicates close to 90% support for the strike. Extrapolating this result nationally, it means that about 55 000 clothing workers have embarked on national strike action today. This shows a massive rejection of the employers' wage proposals and solid support for the union's demand for a decent wage increase for clothing workers.

In the meantime, employers have issued a lock-out notice late on Sunday evening. The notice comes into effect this evening at 22h00. The purpose of the lockout is to force clothing workers to accept the employers' offer.

Clothing employers are meeting this afternoon to discuss their way forward. Last Friday, the trade union offered to suspend its strike action to allow for a further voluntary conciliation meeting tomorrow, but the employers have regretably declined to take up this offer (their precondition was that we should not embark on action today) and are only expected to discuss whether or not they should do so at their meeting later this afternoon. Whatever happens in their meeting later today, it appears that it would be too late to set up any proper logistics for such a voluntary conciliation meeting tomorrow given that employers are only due to decide later today on whether or not to accept the offer of a suspension of the strike action and a further conciliation meeting.

Clothing employers are currently offering a weekly wage increase of between R19 and R32 per week. This is equal to a 5% wage increase. But even this low offer is conditional on clothing workers agreeing to forfeit overtime- and other normal earnings for any form of absenteeism, even where such absenteeism is legally authorised. The trade union is demanding a 7.9% wage increase. Wage negotiations started as far back as April this year and the new wage increase was due on 1 September 2009. The trade union is of the view that its demands are reasonable and affordable, that it now only resorts to strike action as a last option because negotiations cannot continue inconclusively forever. Clothing workers are the lowest paid employees in the whole of the South Africa Manufacturing sector.

In the run up to the strike, the trade union had conducted a strike ballot among 46 600 clothing workers nationally, of whom 92% voted in favour of strike action in pursuit of their wage demands.

Issued by
Andre Kriel
SACTWU
General Secretary

South Africa : Retailers will move orders offshore due to strike – Palmi, expert

September 23, 2009
Fibre2fashion talks to South African Apparel Industry Expert.

Last Tuesday, the South African Clothing and Textile Worker's Union (SACTWU) announced the beginning of an indefinite strike in the textile and apparel sector, to protest against not being given adequate wages, in line with hike in inflation rates.

Meanwhile, the South African textile and clothing sector too is going through one of its worst periods ever seen. Textile units are closing down with amazing regularity as they are not able to meet competition from import of Chinese textiles and clothing.

Fibre2fashion spoke to Mr Renato Palmi, researcher, author and apparel development specialist and also Director of Redress Consultancy, which provides, research, development, advocacy and Publications Company for the South African fashion, apparel and textiles industry sectors. It also conducts socio-economic research and local economic development work.

We began by asking him if the timing of the strike was correct under the current circumstances, to which he said, “In my opinion, this is not the right time, but I also fully understand the concerns of the South African Clothing and Textile Worker's Union (SACTWU) about the low payment and especially the discrepancy in wages between the metro (city) and non-metro (out-lying area) however to embark on a strike now I think is going to do more harm in the long-term”.

He said, “The long term consequence will be detrimental for the industry and I understand that the union is concerned about the low wages and that they are following the mandate of their members but any victory by the union will be short lived and overshadowed by the long term negative impact on the industry and consequently on the union's members. I think the options for the manufacturers are: (a) wait out the strike (b) retrench and restructure (c) move into the informal sector which is unregulated”.

He added by saying, “The ongoing strike is already have an effect on small business who are having to go back to their clients to inform them that they cannot meet delivery dates and the larger retailers that dominate the industry in South Africa will simply move their orders off-shore if local suppliers cannot deliver on time."

To another question on the actual reasons for the downfall of this very promising sector in South Africa, he explained by saying, “The reasons are numerous. Most of the industry blames cheap imports, however, records and research shows that cheap imports have always played a role in the South African apparel industry sector and it was assumed that implementation of the quotas on Chinese imports which has now ended would help the industry to restructure.

“The quota period was too short and it was implemented without any feedback from the stakeholders from certain sub-sectors of the industry and there was little policy as to how the industry could take advantage of this period, but again, the entire blame, however, cannot all be laid at the government's door as there was little initiative from within the industry to invest or restructure their production facilities.

Another reason is the lack of a cohesive developmental plan for the industry. The industry is extremely fractured with different sub-sectors pushing their own agenda. The unions are extremely strong, and with the high cost of labour, the unskilled workforce and the unreliability and the high absenteeism rate amongst workers, have made the industry globally uncompetitive. Having said this, it seems that government and industry are working closer to formulate proper policy and a large amount of funds have been allocated to be injected in the industry.

“My concern is that certain sectors of the industry are now chasing the money and within government itself there are not enough qualified people to manage this project and they are pushing their own agenda within the provincial space, which clearly indicates favouritism. Another reason is the lack of knowledge about the importance of the industry for South Africa by the consumers and ‘The Buy Local’ initiative is a dismal failure, along with which there is also massive fraud taking place in the industry, like illegal imports and under invoicing”.

Next we asked him, as to what according to him, should the government and industry do, to revive the lost glory, to which he replied by saying, “Even though it seems that the industry is in a state of confusion there is hope and so much potential for the industry. The key in my opinion is for the industry to work as a collective for the single goal of growing the industry to what it once was – to work in collaboration with the union to find middle ground and to work with the government.

“We also need more qualified people within the government who are dealing with this sector and since, it is an extremely complex industry and to just have government officials responsible for the reshaping and development of new policies will not work for which a closer collaboration with the apparel sector and the fashion sector is needed.

“A fundamental area is the development of skills. At the moment most school leavers who wish to enter the industry are lured to the fashion side because they see it as glamorous and while we see intake in this sector we see little intake into the important sector of the industry, which is the manufacturing side of textiles and apparels”.

To conclude the interview, we asked him whether the demands of the unions would be met and if not what would be the next course of action, to which he optimistically replied by saying, “The strike will soon be entering its second week and it seems that it is deadlocked and the main area that is preventing any further movement relates to the question of payment for absent workers and I hope for the sake of the collective that an agreement can be found soon”.


Reference: http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/textile-news/newsdetails.aspx?news_id=77442&page=2

China rejects request for textile curbs

South Africa

China does not plan to renew a voluntary two-year restriction on textile exports to South Africa imposed after unions complained that cheap imports were hurting local manufacturers, its ambassador said on Tuesday.

Zhong Jianhua said the quotas that ended at the start of this year had failed to bring about any improvement in the competitiveness of the country's textile sector, and so it would be pointless to drag them out further.

"There's no reason to extend that limitation on our own exports to South Africa because these two years did not bring about any benefit to both sides," Zhong told Reuters in an interview in Pretoria.

"The truth is that we have Chinese manufacturers who would not be happy to see that," he said. "You see, the last year was pretty bad for Chinese exports."

Quotas on Chinese textile and clothing imports to South Africa came into effect in January 2007 in response to union complaints about external competition.

At the time, retailers complained about the higher prices that would result from blocking Chinese textiles, and the central bank said they could add to inflationary pressures in the economy.

The SAPA news agency said the South African Clothing and Textile Union (SACTWU) was launching a strike involving as many as 60,000 workers on Tuesday to demand an above-inflation pay increase of between 7.9 and 11.5 percent.

South Africa has suffered a series of strikes in the last few months as unions in sectors ranging from mining to the state broadcaster have fought for better pay in annual wage negotiation talks with management.

Zhong said that although textile exports to South Africa only accounted for one percent of all such shipments out of China, any extension of the restrictions would send a major "symbolic message" to an industry that employs millions.

"We have strong resistance from the Chinese textile industry," Zhong said.
Instead, he said Beijing and Pretoria were investigating ways in which the two countries could marry Chinese manufacturing expertise with South African design and marketing skills to produce clothes that could appeal to Western markets.

Pretoria said in May it would give cheap loans to textile firms to help them compete internationally, and promised to crack down on illegal imports that have forced several South African companies out of business and made others cut jobs.

The government sees vehicle manufacturing and the textile industry, one of the biggest employers in Africa's biggest economy, as crucial to growth in a country now languishing in its first recession in 17 years.

By Ed Cropley
Reuters

Will strike unstitch the industry?

South Africa

Interviewed on e-news 24 on the eve of a national clothing and textile strike by the South African Clothing and Textile Worker's Union (SACTWU) Renato Palmi said it was very disappointing that such action would be evoked.

The union confirmed that tomorrow (15 September, 2009) strike action would begin. The union had received a mandate to embark on strike action. The union stated 92% of the 46 000 of union members were in favour of strike action. The apparel manufacturing sector has offered a 5% wage increase with condition that they "forfeit overtime earning for any form of absenteeism, even when such absenteeism is legally authorised." The union is demanding a 7.9% wage increase which resulted in a deadlock.

In the TV interview it was stated that manufacturers claimed the issue was not money but the high percentage of absenteeism. Palmi responded by saying that it was strange that money was not a problem as the industry is under stress, cash-flows tight and profit margins even tighter but confirmed that the issue of absenteeism was a problem. "This is due to a number of factors such as HIV/AIDS and the fact that the majority of workers are women who are often the single bread winner and they have to deal with domestic problems resulting in them not arriving at work."

Asked what the consequences would be for the industry Palmi responded by saying the long term consequence would be detrimental for the industry. He said he "understood that the union was following the mandate of its members but the short term results would be overshadowed by the long term negative impact on the industry and consequently the union's members." Palmi said he saw the following options for the apparel sector:
(a) Clothing companies would wait out the strike.
(b) Clothing companies would retrench and restructure their work force and production facilities
(c) Clothing companies would close and possibly relocate elsewhere.
(d) Would see a migration of companies into the unregistered informal sector.

A further consequence of this strike action would be "unregistered companies in the informal sector that are not registered or unionised seeing a possible increase in orders. The immediate result for the apparel sector could see retailers cancelling orders, even fining suppliers for non-delivery and simply placing orders either with unregistered companies or moving more of their procurement offshore."

In a research study Palmi did in 2007 the results reflected that absenteeism was a major concern with 80% of the respondents saying HIV/AIDS was a concern and 96% saying that the high level of absenteeism could be a result of the pandemic. To read the full study click here.

Palmi stated that the low level of wages and the difference between metro and non-metro areas was a concern and he understood the position of the union however, he questioned if the industry could really afford a strike. "What this will result in is more imports and less locally made clothing. The effect of this strike can have a ripple effect throughout the entire industry and the various stations within the apparel value-chain will be adversely affected. He said he hoped that the strike would not be militant or result in damage. The unions cannot afford to marginalize the consumer, "they [the union] need to get the consumer on their side and to understand the importance of supporting locally made apparel."

Photos of union members participating in ballot. Click here
Responses, observations and comments on the strike are welcome.

Breaking news: 13h30 -15 September 09
Developments in Lesotho known as a haven for the apparel industry because of the abundance of cheap labour may see some radical labour changes that will place both South African and foreign apparel manufacturers in a precarious position.

Workers in the Lesotho clothing sector have petitioned the National Assembly portfolio committee that oversees labour. The workers are demanding a Loti 1,500 minimum wage which equates to R1491.00. This is according to the workers that beginning of a larger “campaign to force government to heed their request.” If the action taken by the workers is successful it may have enormous consequence for the apparel sector within the SADC region. Leotho may see a migration of clothing companies to other alternative localities and South African companies may find it not worth the expense to relocate to Lesotho.

The current starting wage in the South African clothing sector is for a general worker within the KwaZulu-Natal Metro region R 426 per week.

15 SEPTEMBER 2009
PRESS RELEASE: IMMEDIATE
THOUSANDS OF CLOTHING WORKERS EMBARK ON NATIONAL WAGE STRIKE

The clothing industry came to a standstill today as tens of thousands of members of the Southern African Clothing & Textile Workers' Union (SACTWU) have commenced a national wage strike in support of their wage demands.

The strike commenced early this morning, when workers started the day with general meetings at their workplaces. By between 09h00 - 09h30 they had clocked out, held brief protest actions in front of their workplaces and then dispursed to go home because the union had called for the strike action to be in the form of a stayaway from work today.

By 12h30 today, the trade union had completed a survey to measure the extent of support for the strike. Nationally, a total of 336 factories jointly employing about 33 000 workers were surveyed. The preliminary outcome indicates close to 90% support for the strike. Extrapolating this result nationally, it means that about 55 000 clothing workers have embarked on national strike action today. This shows a massive rejection of the employers' wage proposals and solid support for the union's demand for a decent wage increase for clothing workers.

In the meantime, employers have issued a lock-out notice late on Sunday evening. The notice comes into effect this evening at 22h00. The purpose of the lockout is to force clothing workers to accept the employers' offer.

Clothing employers are meeting this afternoon to discuss their way forward. Last Friday, the trade union offered to suspend its strike action to allow for a further voluntary conciliation meeting tomorrow, but the employers have regretably declined to take up this offer (their precondition was that we should not embark on action today) and are only expected to discuss whether or not they should do so at their meeting later this afternoon. Whatever happens in their meeting later today, it appears that it would be too late to set up any proper logistics for such a voluntary conciliation meeting tomorrow given that employers are only due to decide later today on whether or not to accept the offer of a suspension of the strike action and a further conciliation meeting.

Clothing employers are currently offering a weekly wage increase of between R19 and R32 per week. This is equal to a 5% wage increase. But even this low offer is conditional on clothing workers agreeing to forfeit overtime- and other normal earnings for any form of absenteeism, even where such absenteeism is legally authorised. The trade union is demanding a 7.9% wage increase. Wage negotiations started as far back as April this year and the new wage increase was due on 1 September 2009. The trade union is of the view that its demands are reasonable and affordable, that it now only resorts to strike action as a last option because negotiations cannot continue inconclusively forever. Clothing workers are the lowest paid employees in the whole of the South Africa Manufacturing sector.

In the run up to the strike, the trade union had conducted a strike ballot among 46 600 clothing workers nationally, of whom 92% voted in favour of strike action in pursuit of their wage demands.

Issued by
Andre Kriel
SACTWU
General Secretary