S African textile workers to get full wages for lockdown

30 Mar '20

2 min read

Pic: Shutterstock

The Southern African Clothing & Textile Workers’ Union (SACTWU) recently concluded the country's 2nd national sectoral ‘COVID-19 Lockdown National Collective Agreement’. The agreement guarantees full wage payment to textile workers covered by the scope of the National Textile Bargaining Council (NTBC) during the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown period.

SACTWU is affiliated to the Congress of South African Trade Unions These payments will be made up of a combination of workers' Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) amounts plus a cash contribution from textile employers.

This agreement was also formally adopted by the council.

SACTWU, which had signed a similar agreement for apparel industry workers recently, claimed it now achieved full wage protection coverage for about 79 per cent of all its members for the lockdown period.

However, talks to conclude a similar agreement under the auspices of the Leather Bargaining Council collapsed as footwear and leather employers were not prepared to make a cash contribution to their workers' lost wages during this crisis, SACTWU said in a press release.

Instead, footwear and leather employers have proposed that the burden must be further carried by workers, by reducing their annual leave and public holiday payment entitlements, or cajoling workers into such arrangements at plant level, it said. SACTWU has rejected their proposals.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

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