8.5% wage hike for cotton textile workers in SA

10 Jun '15

2 min read

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU)-affiliated Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (SACTWU) has announced that its members in the cotton textile sector will receive an 8.5 per cent wage increase this year.

This is in consequence of a wage agreement signed between SACTWU and the South African Cotton & Textile Processing Employers’ Association (SACTPEA), in August last year, SACTWU said in a statement on its website.

The agreement was negotiated and concluded under the auspices of the National Textile Bargaining Council (NTBC).

Approximately 5000 cotton textile sector workers spread in 71 companies nationally, will benefit from the agreement. The new wage rates will range between R27.28 ($2.16) per hour for a Grade 1 worker in this sector, to a new hourly rate of R31.30 ($2.5) for a Grade 5 machine operator. There are only five occupational grades applicable in this sector.

This will mean a significant cash injection into the South African economy, of about R7.8m ($0.64 million) in additional wages, over the next 12 months.

The agreement has been submitted to the labour minister for gazette notification and extension to all companies and employees in the cotton textile sector in South Africa. The gazette notification is expected on June 15, 2015.

The new wages will come into effect from July 1, 2015. Earlier this month, SACTWU had called for a substantial increase in the monthly wages of clothing retail sector workers. (SH)

Fibre2fashion News Desk – India