South African Clothing Union Comments on Patel's Growth Policy

12 DECEMBER 2010

PRESS RELEASE: IMMEDIATE

SACTWU NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE PRONOUNCES ON THE NEW GROWTH PATH

The Southern African Clothing & Textile Workers' Union (SACTWU) has convened a Special meeting of its National Executive Committee (NEC) to consider government's New Growth Path (NGP), in preparation for the Special Central Executive Committee (CEC) meeting convened by COSATU for 14-15 December

2010. The SACTWU NEC is our union's highest decision-making body, after our National Congress. Our Special NEC was held last week in Durban.

The SACTWU NEC has welcomed the NGP as a decisive break from the unilateralism of the previous Growth, Employment & Redistribution (GEAR) policy, and from GEAR's restrictive macro-economic substance. Our NEC was appreciative that unlike GEAR, which was imposed as a non-negotiable fete-a-compli economic growth plan for our country, the NGP promotes social dialogue about how best to shape both its content and its implementation processes. Unlike GEAR, our NEC noted, the NGP places job creation at its centre, promotes a looser monetary policy stance, commits to fiscal growth in real terms (despite its mention of fiscal restraint) and contains enough indications of an expansionary fiscal stance (for example, in addition to its firm fiscal real growth commitment, the NGC contains elements which could unleash billion of rands for additional off-budget fiscal expenditure directed at job creation which, in reality, amounts to an expansionary fiscal policy framework wider than the actual 2% annual real fiscal growth

currently envisaged in the NGP).

On the NGP proposal for a price-wage-savings social pact, our NEC has taken the same stance as that contained in the final Declaration of the Civil Society Conference convened by COSATU in September this year: that the concept of a social pact in itself must not be rejected but that the commitments in its final content would determine whether or not it is acceptable. For example, a government commitment on capping administered prices (as offered by the NGP) such as inflation-linked electricity price increases, could bring welcome relief from high electricity price increases recently imposed on workers, industry and the poor. The wage capping bands proposed bear no real practical danger for workers in the clothing, textile and leather industry, as in reality their minimum wages are the lowest in the whole of the South Africa manufacturing industry. But any attempt to water down worker rights and interests will be firmly rejected.

Our NEC has noted some concerns in the NGP, but have concluded that these should be brought to COSATU's attention as part of a package of concerns in the NGP to be addressed in the engagement process with government and other stakeholders, but that these concerns in itself are not of such a nature

that it would warrant a rejection of the NGP.

The SACTWU NEC has noted the army of very vocal and alarmist rightwing  attacks on the NGP, noted concerns raised by other COSATU affiliates, measured the NGP against the Polokwane resolutions and the COSATU growth path proposal released in September, has rejected BUSA's call for an NGP which is less state interventionist and has concluded that the balance of forces in the current conjuncture are of such a nature that the NGP provides labour with its best opportunity, since the unilateral imposition of GEAR, to decisively shift and re-direct economic policy to address the most pressing challenge of our time: decent job creation.

Issued by

Andre Kriel

General Secretary

SACTWU

14 November 2010

PRESS RELEASE

'PATEL PROCESS' IS BROADER THAN JUST THE NEWCASTLE MATTER

The Southern Africa Clothing & Textile Workers' Union (SACTWU) is amused at the widespread misconception that the 'Patel Process' is simply confined to resolving the issue of threatened factory shutdowns in Newcastle due to the illegal wages being paid there. This is just one of the many mushrooming

recent misconceptions about what is happening in the fashion manufacturing industry which, if left unchallenged and uncorrected, could soon be accepted as truth. The issue evolved very differently to what is now being publically reported:

Minister of Economic Development, Ebrahim Patel addressed our union's National Congress in September this year. Our Congress was vexed with the difficulties which the industry is experiencing and what to do about it. In fact, our Congress theme was just that: "A new growth path for decent work in the clothing, textile, footwear and leather industry".

The idea of an industry accord to address the many developmental challenges faced by the industry, including productivity, forms of work organisation, trade issues, industrial policy, matters amongst others, emerged from these discussions at our National Congress and was finalised at our union's National Executive Committee meeting held in early November. In discussion with clothing employers, it was agreed to also include the problem of non-compliance as part of the Patel Process. It is just one of many issues

to be considered, and certainly not the only one.

Attempts by many public commentators and some employers to narrow the Patel Process to simply addressing the Newcastle wage non-compliance matter is a serious disservice to the industry. SACTWU has absolutely no intention of focusing its agenda narrowly, simply on the Newcastle matter. The industry's challenges are much broader than that.

Issued by

Andre Krel

SACTWU