The current stand-off between clothing manufacturers in Newcastle and the Bargaining Council has occurred before in KwaZulu-Natal. In 2005 The Natal Clothing Manufacturing Association (NCMA) refused to participate in Bargaining Council wage talks unless the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (Sactwu) agreed to discuss a proposed two-tier wage model.
NCMA stated that they were taking such action because there was an urgent need to seek some form of relief for its members and that there was scope for realistic flexibility in wage negotiations.
NCMA said that the clothing sector had undergone a high rate of casualisation which has resulted in the migration of jobs into the cut-make-and-trim (CMT) sector and it is these companies that need some space around Bargaining Council regulations. The Eastern Cape Clothing Manufactures’’ Association also took the same action as the NCMA.
In 2008 a coalition of cut-make-and-trim manufacturers in Durban was formed to engage with the South African Bargaining Council (BC) on numerous issues. The coalition called on the BC to revisit rates and address unnecessary intimidation from the BC because they were non-compliant. For more on this story click here.
In September 2009, 55 000 members of the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union went on strike to demand decent wage increases.
The ReDress Consultancy, 30 August 2010
Since The ReDress Consultancy broke the story last week on the clothing companies in Newcastle a number of media reports have followed up on the story. Herewith some of the newspaper articles.
Union acts to halt factory closures
http://www.fin24.com/Business/Union-acts-to-halt-factory-closures-20100830
Low wages put 8 000 clothing jobs at risk
http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNGFQYDnWFPZrrqmEiAwS_h6uRXx5w&url=http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fSectionId%3D561%26fArticleId%3D5619915
Clothing factory closures spread
http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=552&fArticleId=5624816
Free State intervenes in rag trade wages dispute
http://www.timeslive.co.za/business/article626950.ece/Free-State-intervenes-in-rag-trade-wages-dispute
Textiles get lifeline to boost jobs
Here is a paradox THE KwaZulu-Natal department of economic development and tourism has thrown a lifeline to retrenched workers from the textile industry - pumping a whopping R30million into it.
http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2010/08/19/textiles-get-lifeline-to-boost-jobs
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