South Africa
Clothing Labour Wages and Regulations-The great apparel debate
6 September 2010
Opinion by The ReDress Consultancy
The ongoing sparring between apparel manufacturers in Newcastle, KZN, the Bargaining Council and the Southern African Clothing and Textiles Workers’ Union (Sactwu) has once again brought to the forefront an ongoing debate that has been percolating in the apparel sector for a long time. Having been intimately involved as a researcher, advisor and observer as well as being the media’s coordinator from the beginning I truly feel this impasse needs to be addressed as a collective for the industry to move forward.
After long deliberations, the decision, by the factory owners to shift the labour paradigm by implementing their own “strike action” achieved a semblance of success in that it brought the Bargaining Council and the union to the table, however, what the final outcome will be, in what is going to be a very protracted exercise, is questionable.
It is an extremely difficult situation the apparel and textile sector faces. Understandably, those companies who are paying the Bargaining Council regulated wages feel that those companies not paying should have no preferential treatment. On the other hand statistics show that there are many smaller companies who just cannot pay the regulated wages. What do we do? Shut them all down and shrink the industry even further? Or do we reevaluate the system? There is an urgent need for creative, intellectual, openness and honesty in approaching this situation from all the stakeholders.
“In September 2009 nearly 55 000 members of the Southern African Clothing and Textiles Workers Union (Sactwu) went on a national strike for wage increase. A year later over 5000 people according to the union lost their jobs in the first six months of 2010. Da Gama Textiles in the Eastern Cape have just retrenched 760 of its workers, and a further 1600 people in the Cape may soon be retrenched. In Newcastle, KwaZulu Natal, factory owners are battling with the union and the Bargaining Council to protect their business and thousands of jobs. Something is seriously wrong with the clothing and textile sector.
South Africa can ill afford the hemorrhaging of jobs in these industry sectors yet, precious time and energy is being spent because there seems to be no or very limited visionary leaders when it comes to finding flexible ways to navigate around the rigid mandates that are not aligned to current global and local economic and labour developments.
In August nine clothing factories were shut down in KZN because they were paying their workers way below the minimum wage regulations and a further nine face closure unless they meet the required wage level as determined by the Bargaining Council. Apparently the Bargaining Council has nearly 400 writs waiting to be implemented against companies.
What is ironic is that the KwaZulu-Natal department of economic development and tourism has managed to find R30 million to spend on retrenched textile workers in order to create co-operatives, while the Industrial Development Corporation has spent R70 million on four transactions within the textile and clothing sector during the 2008/2009 financial year.
Whilst policy development and incentive schemes from government and the Industrial Development Corporation must be applauded there is a need for statistical evidence that can show the extent these intervention schemes have helped with job security, industry/company growth and production output that contributes to the South African economy.
Both the Bargaining Council and the clothing union have to follow their mandates, and it is acknowledged, that they are in place to protect workers from exploitation. Any company that is paying way below minimum wages must be challenged and either given the opportunity to up the wages or be forced to close.
However, if companies are paying just below the wage limits because of trade conditions surely there can be some flexibility? The Bargaining Council and union face a cross-roads as well as the industry as there are companies that are meeting Bargaining Council regulations however the number of non-compliant companies are far more than compliant companies. This leads to the conclusion that maybe this is the time to reevaluate the wage structures to find equable solutions that benefits everyone.
It cannot be disputed that our textile and clothing sectors are in a prolonged crisis and while reams of paper is used on developing policies and hours spent on discussions and workshops there seems to be a lack of a coordinated inclusive strategy. In this melee we are forgetting the workers, whose lives are affected by the decisions made in higher offices. Everyone seems to be speaking on their behalf and determining what is a fair and not fair wage. Should not these decisions be left to them?”
Written by: Renato Palmi
The opinions expressed are those of Renato Palmi and they are written not to criticize but to create a space for dialogue.
2 comments:
Comments from Fin 24.com artcile:
"Clothing factories at war over wages" Sep 05 2010 10:27
I fully understand and support the actions of the Bargaining Council, after all, they are trying to do the fair thing. But it feels like a poorly thought through solution. Surely the solution is NOT inforcing the minimum wage...surely we should be looking at lowering the minimum wage as the real solution of keeping tens of thousands of people at work?
@R90 a week
Sep 06 2010 10:32
Not everybody got paid R90 per week. R90 per week was the lowest pay scale. The number of people that got payed this is anybody's guess. Even though this is very low, from where will these people get the R360 pm now?
mike
Sep 06 2010 10:04
Let people work for the pay they are happy to receive. The more interference the harder it will become. Sometimes you just have to accept certain people will not earn what you would like them to earn, but at least they have a job.
7 For All Mankind
Sep 06 2010 09:50
At Andy..A nation of beggars and salesmen. Thats what labor and govt are building. In light of your comment, an example of how idiotic..Woolworths normally a staunch supporter of local is lekker, has recently (April 10) moved its mens chino program to Swaziland.Minimum wage 500% less than Sunny South Africa.September 2009 a 4 week strike in clothing, during the busiest time of the year. Local retailers now more than ever need to minimise risk and maximise profits.The exodus began some time ago but the concerning thing now is that all manufacturing is going the same way as clothing. Bargaining councils have a noble function as do unions. However the current status quo ie where the tail trys to wag the dog, The dog owner does not like a spastic dog so chops off the tail indicates a dysfunctional economy. The only way this system can work is if we shut the borders..or devalue the currency.Long Term economic suicide
SevenForAll Mankind
Article title: Cheap Clothes, Cheap Jobs: Renato Palmi
Title:
Comment: I think that we have accountability problems here as in many other sectors. People must be responsible for their performance and this is from policy makers down to consumers at the end of the supply chain. We need to develop a quality bar whereby it is viable to institute and produce products of reasonable quality in terms of design, materials and presentation whereby the consumer eventually makes an effort to buy local. We must be proud of our capabilities by way of products which make us proud and make us want to "have them". We need to develop quality processing of raw material and sharpen our design and workmanship techniques and from there on I think that things will start to fall into place and make sence within the textile sector.
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