Newcastle’s clothing sector has become an economic experiment

South Africa
The ReDress Consultancy

It seems that our change of focus on the current clothing industry dispute with the union and bargaining is beginning to create some currency.  Ever since I coined the term and argument that Newcastle’s clothing sector has become an economic experiment analysis, commentators and the media are beginning to pick up on this line of thinking.

The Sunday Times(3 July 2011), published my article under the heading, “Newcastle could become catalyst for labour changes.” An American website picked up on the story, and the Business Day commented that the actions of the bargaining council is alienating and marginalizing a particular group of individuals. 

The most recent is the article from the South African Institute of Race Relations, advocating for civil society to take action against the destructive trajectory of the bargaining council.

Hopefully this surge of new thinking initiated by The ReDress Consultancy may catalyze some active support and action from a very silent clothing and textile industry and from business in general. The only way the industry can assert pressure on the clothing union and the bargaining council is through collective civil action partnering with as many organisaitons and individuals as possible. What can you do right now? 

• 1.    Inundate the media with letters.
• 2.    Forward this article to as many people as possible and ask them to forward it to others.
• 3.    Refer people to our website.
• 4.    If you own a factory, speak to your workers about the actions of the bargaining council and union and get their views on the situation. Talk to them about the missing funds.
• 5.    Write to government, your councilor, your political party, community newspapers.
• 6.    Post our article on social media sites invite as many people to add their outcry at a system that is creating havoc in the industry and economy.

Newcastle’s clothing sector has become an economic experiment

Newcastle has become the local and global focus in regard to South Africa’s clothing sector, and unfortunately the small community of Chinese apparel owners have become both heroes and villains.

The Newcastle clothing uprising grabbed international attention late last year  when factory owners shifted the entire labour paradigm by going on strike with the support of their staff to highlight their frustrations in regard to communications with the clothing union, Sactwu, and the clothing bargaining council.

This small band of mavericks have become the vanguard to possible changes within South Africa’s beleaguered clothing sector and the wider predicament facing South Africa’s labour and the debate about job creation.

The ReDress Consultancy’s analysis and continual observation of the ever changing landscape in the clothing sector, highlights that the actions taken by the Chinese clothing community is creating an extremely strenuous environment for them.

The Chinese clothing community have become the targets of a very sophisticated, orchestrated and systematic attack by the clothing union and the bargaining council and this is fueled by the misrepresentation and the bias believe that it is only the Chinese who have decimated South Africa’s clothing industry, that it is only the Chinese who run sweatshops and only the Chinese clothing owners in Newcastle who wish to violate South Africa’s labour law and exploit workers.

This is not the full truth.  The challenges facing South Africa’s clothing sector is far more than just wages.  The ReDress Consultancy asks: if tomorrow every clothing company were to comply to the wages dictated by the bargaining council would it make the sector more productive, would exports increase, would retailers support more local suppliers and would the sector become more competitive? The answer is no.

What the Newcastle clothing sector is advocating is nothing unique. The vast majority of clothing companies in South Africa are experiencing the same difficulties and hurdles; however, instead of showing a collective public front in support of Newcastle the vast majority of clothing owners remain silent.

We have to ask why? Our research and enquiries reflect an industry that is operating in fear. Fear of intimidation, fear of what may happen to owners and their businesses if they speak to the media or show public support for the Newcastle clothing sector that is under siege. How can an industry sector become economically and globally competitive if it has to operate within such a strenuous environment?

It is this fragmentation and lack of collaboration that is making the industry weak, giving the space for the clothing union and the bargaining council to exploit this vulnerability within South Africa’s clothing industry and in so doing create the impression that it is the Newcastle’s Chinese clothing employers that are the villains.  The entire clothing industry should be hailing them as heroes.

Economists, labour specialists, commentators and the government in South Africa and even throughout the world are watching events closely in Newcastle, which has now become an economic experiment that will result in casualties.  Unfortunately the casualties could well be the workers and owners in Newcastle’s clothing sector and the consequence will reverberate through the entire clothing industry.

The outspoken clothing owners in Newcastle are feeling extremely isolated, vulnerable and dismayed by the lack of tangible support in the public space by the wider clothing and textile sector.  As one owner said, “We are not just doing this for ourselves, what we are doing and the extreme pressure and feeling of isolation we are experiencing is for the entire industry and for the country. We need more active support.”  

Newcastle could be the catalyst for the much needed labour changes South Africa desperately needs. However, to achieve this the Newcastle clothing community requires collaborative support through intelligent crowd sourcing and mobilization using every means available to influence an outcome that would be palatable for the bargaining council, the clothing union, the workers and the clothing industry.

Written by: Renato Palmi

The ReDress consultancy

Email: redresssa@webstorm.co.za

Web: www.redressconsultancy.com  (entry to our blog)

© The ReDress Consultancy. June 30 2011