The United Clothing and Textiles Association (UCTA) would not accept the outcome of the new wage negotiations now under way at the bargaining council until the minimum wage dispute was resolved, UCTA chairman Ahmed Paruk said yesterday.
Paruk also claimed that other employer organisations in the industry had taken a similar position.
But Johann Baard, the executive director of the Apparel Manufacturers of SA (Amsa), denied that it would boycott negotiations for new wages.
Wage negotiations will take place in Durban tomorrow and on Friday. The increase will be implemented in September.
“We can’t accept the new wage before the old issue (minimum wage) is resolved,” Paruk said.
The UCTA and the bargaining council have clashed since last year over the payment of a minimum wage, which increased to R336 a week in April. The bargaining council has been cracking down on non-compliant factories after a decision to allow these companies to phase in compliance.
There are 300 non-compliant factories represented by the UCTA. The bargaining council has been inspecting 416 non-compliant factories since last month and has closed some in the process, although others have also reopened.
The non-compliant factories employ at least 14 500 people and owe workers R86 million in short wages from September 2008 to September 2009.
Last year, it was agreed that factories must start paying a minimum wage of R336 a week by the beginning of April, R465 by the end of the year and R516 by April next year.
Baard said Amsa could not support the UCTA’s call to shun negotiations because it would mean labour alone would decide wages for the industry.
“We have invited the UCTA to the bargaining council for the past two years because if you are in the bargaining council, you can influence events instead of shouting from the sidelines after the events,” he said. “Precisely by engaging in the wage negotiations, we are trying to find a new wage model for the industry.
“We agree with the UCTA that the current wage model is not sustainable and it is undesirable to close companies down but it is not Amsa’s fault that these companies are closing down,” Baard said.
Wayne van der Rheede, the deputy secretary-general of the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers Union, said the union was not concerned by the UCTA’s position as it was not part of the bargaining council.
Paruk said its lawyers had asked the bargaining council for more information on the compliance assessments.
Bargaining council national compliance manager Leon Deetlefs said yesterday it was still collating information about the assessment and would have an update tomorrow. - Business Report