The ballot started last Tuesday, in most parts of the country. The ballot is being voluntarily conducted to gauge members’ support for legal strike action, after the trade union had declared a national dispute with clothing sector employers.

SACTWU’s Northern Natal Branch in KZN has last Friday become the first out of the union’s 30 branches to complete its ballot. Workers in 25 factories were balloted in this branch. The ballots for this union branch have been counted and the results certified.

The results are as follows:

Total number of Yes votes - 2509

Total number of No votes - 175

Total number of Spoilt votes - 28

% YES votes - 93%

% NO votes - 6%

% Spoilt votes - 1%

SACTWU is the biggest union in the clothing, textile and leather industry in South Africa, with 99 000 members at the end of June 2010. This allows SACTWU to represent members more effectively. We negotiate wages for the vast majority of workers in the clothing, textile.

Southern African Clothing & Textile Workers Union's (SACTWU's)