"SAVE OUR JOBS" Say South African Clothing Workers

Comment from The ReDress Consultancy

Finally, the media has noticed the repeated statements by The ReDress Consultancy that the union (Sactwu), the Bargaining Council and the Government need to take into consideration the collective voice of the workers. It is these people whose jobs are in jeopardy and come 2011 they may no longer have a job. It is paramount that the voices of the people are heard and their insight into the current state of affairs taken note of. On the other hand, the affected workers have the right to stand together and make their voice heard in whatever manner or forum they feel is necessary? They cannot and should not stand back and allow the state and industry representative institutions make decisions on their behalf without collective inclusivity (union and non-union members) in the process that is currently taking place within South Africa’s clothing sector.

See commentary from The ReDress Consultancy

The Stitching is on the wall

Are retailers responsible for South Africa’s clothing industry woes?

Sactwu and sweatshops (City Press)

The great apparel debate

SAVE OUR JOBS

A government crackdown on factories that don’t comply with labour and safety laws could cost nearly 10 000 people their jobs.

THOKO Zibula, who supports a family of six including three schoolgoing chil¬dren, earns her living in a Chi¬nese-owned clothing factory in Newcastle. But her future -alongside that of 9 500 other textile workers - is on the line if their factories are closed over a failure to conform to safety regulations and mini¬mum wages.

She is opposed to the clo¬sure of the factories scattered along Albert Wessels Drive at the Riverside Industrial Park on the eastern periphery of the town. While "yes, some are cruel", Zibula says, not all Chi¬nese companies are exploiting their workers.

"These are our jobs. The government is coming to take something from us that they never even created in the first place. Show me government-created jobs in Newcastle," she says.

Two months ago shut¬downs over a failure to pay minimum wages were averted when government offered a lifeline to the clothing manu¬facturers in Newcastle, effec¬tively halting any prosecution until "stakeholder engage¬ments" were completed by the end of December under the auspices of the national cloth¬ing sector bargaining council.

But this lifeline came only after angry scenes at several factories where workers held the sheriff of the court at bay.

Newcastle is the economic hub of northern KwaZulu¬Natal and not only supports its population of 540 000 people, but also surrounding towns and villages via coal mining and clothing income. Yet unem¬ployment stands at about 52 percent.

Sibongile Hlatshwayo, 31,has worked at various Chinese-owned textile factories in New-castle for over a decade.

She is a single mother of two, who also looks after three other children and four adults in a four-room house in Madadeni. While Hlatshwayo lost her job due to tuberculosis in August, she remains opposed to the closures.

She earned R270 a week, well below the R324 minimum wage, but she says it was better than nothing even if it was never enough to take care of her family.

Hours after the Sunday Tri¬bune visited this week, Hlatshwayo's 64-year-old mother, whose pension has been the only family income over the past two months, died.

Hlatshwayo says she hopes to return to the clothing facto¬ries once cured. "If the govern-ment closes the factories, how will thousands of people around here survive?

"I'm one of those. I have been supporting this family since 1997,” she says. "I strongly disagree with the gov¬ernment. Where are we sup¬posed to go if these factories are shut down? The family responsibility has become such a burden."

The tensions over jobs and wages in Newcastle come against the background of almost a million jobs lost dur¬ing the recent recession.

Analysts, commentators and politicians have expressed concern about the number of job losses, which, some econo¬mists say, do not seem to corre¬late with South Africa's eco-nomic performance.

Since 2004, the government has tried to create jobs through its expanded public works pro¬gramme. The initial target of a million jobs by 2008 has now been moved to 4.5 million by 2014.

Last week, Public Works Minister Geoff Doidge said 193 001 opportunities for work were created by June 30 this year - 30 percent of the 642 000 target for this financial year.

Saying the programme was on track, he defended it from criticism that it created only short-term employment over a few months, frequently with¬out prospects of further employment.

But labour federation Cosatu has long been pushing for a more pro-poor, pro-worker rights approach.

In its recent discussion doc¬ument "Growth Path Towards Full Employment", the focus falls on productive employ¬ment opportunities, decent work and a living wage for all South Africans.

And it seems government is also refocusing. In his Budget speech in May, Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel - previously the long-standing leader of the Southern African Clothing and Textile Union (Sactwu) - said the new economic growth path would focus on "the labour absorbing capacity of the economy".

He added that recovering jobs lost in 2009 would require better employment creation, decent work opportunities and "better social outcomes".

However, the new economic growth path documents have yet to be publicly released.

For many of the clothing and textile workers in New¬castle, talk of a new employment-focused eco¬nomic policy, like mini¬mum wages and safe working environments,may be just that -that does not put bread o table.

Dudu Mabaso, who works in a Chinese-owned clothing factory', says as much as she wants things to change at her company, closing it is not an option.

"People will revolt aginst closure. It is their source of survival and working for the companies is the only way they can survive. The wages are low, but they are better than nothing," she said.

While some employers have threatened to move to neighbouring countries -Lesotho has become a new home for many in recent years - the Newcastle Chinese Cham¬ber of Commerce and Industry (NCCCI) says it is opposed to exploitation and will not defend immoral labour prac¬tices.

Still, Sactwu recently bestowed the cham¬ber its broken brick award as the worst employer.

NCCCI chairman Chuan-Yi"Alex" Lui points out that South Africa is a tough terrain in which to operate.

"It must be stated that 358 clothing companies in South Africa are being targeted by the bargaining council for not paying minimum wages.

"According to the bargain¬ing council, the worst paying employer in South Africa is not a Chinese company," says Lui.

Lui said workers' wages w e r e deter¬mined by their output and that all employees were aware of this. It was important that the unions, the bargaining council and government understood this system of production.

"You cannot demand much more than what has been pro¬duced," Lui adds.

The chamber chairman is also a councillor. As such, the welfare of Newcastle, known for its clothing and coal indus¬tries, is close to his heart.

He says he talked fellow Chi¬nese and Taiwanese companies out of moving from South Africa.

At last month's Sactwu con¬gress, it emerged that at least 18 291 clothing sector jobs were lost in the past three years to June - most of them in areas where wages were already the lowest.

So low wages seem to offer no guarantee against job losses. And KwaZulu-Natal was the hardest hit.

Sactwu's Chris Gina said the clothing companies in Newcastle pay a machinist between R180 and R280 a week, while the legal minimum wage is R479.10 a week.

Gina says the union's sur¬vey of 13 NCCCI member com¬panies reveals that 12 received non-compliance orders between February and Septem¬ber this year and one case is still pending.

Collectively, the companies owe workers more than R10 million in arrear wages and levies to social benefit funds and the like.

"Five' of these companies have illegally refused bargain¬ing council inspectors access to the workplace, during the com¬pliance inspection proceed¬ings," he adds.

It is such situations that create headaches for the town elders. Newcastle mayor Afzul Rehman said the issue of the workers and the non-compliant factories was a delicate one.

If the 9 500 clothing workers lost their jobs due to factory clo¬sures, Newcastle would plunge deeper into poverty. "I will be straightforward and tell you that as much as we want investors to create jobs, we do not condone people getting rich at the expense of the poor.

"We badly need direct for¬eign investment, but my stance is that such investors should abide by the rules of the land," says Rehman. "It's a juggling act," he says.

Source: The Sunday Tribune

Nathi Olifant

October 24, 2010