Johannesburg - On Tuesday 10 000 clothing workers will strike for the tenth unpaid working day in a dispute over wage increases that is estimated to cost clothing manufacturers more than R100m.
These estimated losses are attributable to overhead costs that cannot be recouped when factories are not operating at full capacity. This does not include order cancellations, says Johann Baard, chief negotiator on behalf of the employers.
The large retailers have already begun to cancel orders and move them to manufacturers in other countries, especially Lesotho, Swaziland and China. In some cases large discounts are being demanded on consignments that will be late, as evidenced in emails forwarded to Sake24 by clothing manufacturers.
"The cancellation and shifting of orders will cause irreparable damage to the industry. Those units won't come back," Baard declares. "Although we regret the retailers' decisions, we understand that they have their own interests [to protect]."
André Kriel, general secretary of the clothing trade union Sactwu, says the union's aim is not to strike, but to negotiate decent wage increases that are within workers' rights.
"It's within employers' ability to give us what we ask," he insists.
The offer for rural workers is an increase of 7.5% for a machinist, Kriel says. This amounts to about R29.92 a week. The union wants the increase for rural workers to equal in rand the amount that urban workers will get - about R40 to R50.
"One can't even buy a decent chicken for R29," Kriel argues.
Although wages vary across the country, the weekly wage for a stitcher is R399 in rural areas like Newcastle, and R644.50 for a worker in Cape Town.
The union is demanding a 7.9% increase with paid sick leave for urban workers.
Employers are offering 8%, attached to strict conditions. These include workers' agreeing to lose part of their income if they are absent, even when the absence is legitimate.
"It's also important to look at the background to this. For the past six years workers have accepted increases equal to the inflation rate, or less, in an effort to help the industry. But people get to a point where they simply don't want to continue seeing their living standards drop," Kriel remonstrates.
"These are difficult conditions for the workers. They know the industry is not doing well."
On Tuesday the employers and the union, Sactwu, are again meeting with the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration in an attempt to reach a settlement.
On Monday neither of the parties was prepared to indicate whether it would make concessions.
About 15 000 textile workers are expected to start striking next week in solidarity with the 55 000 clothing workers if no agreement has been reached.
- Sake24.com
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