Workers union affirms faith in compliance levels

14 Mar '11

2 min read

According to the General Secretary of the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers' Union (Sactwu), Andre Kriel, the apprehensions raised by some of the clothing producers over fixing of the minimum wages were overstated and considerable progress on the front of compliance is likely to be achieved by close of the current month.

As agreed between the employers and the worker's unions during the industry bargaining council held in December, 2010, the companies should attain 70 percent compliance level with regards to minimum wages implementation by close of the current month, 90 percent by January 2012 and attain total compliance by end of April 2012.

Assets of the firms which fail to adhere to these guidelines would be taken up for attachment by the bargaining council. Meanwhile, a few of the employer organizations have claimed that it is not possible to meet the deadline in respect of the minimum wage by end of this month.

Kreil recently while speaking at the Sactwu annual national bargaining conference in Durban, stated that it is not a crisis situation, as after inking the compliance agreement with companies representing around 10,000 workers during December last year, there were indications that a major move ahead could be struck, and thus they were assisting these companies to meet the deadlines.

Further, the Vice-Chairman of the Coastal Clothing Manufacturing Association, Rajen Naicker said that all attempts were being made to articulate trust and progress towards compliance. The Association represents 161 firms which support the compliance plan.

However, according to the United Clothing and Textiles Association (UCTA), a protective trade body with around 300 companies the deadline remains to be a major concern.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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