Factory workers to be paid during the lockdown
|Published
An agreement has been reached allowing more than 100 000 clothing and textile workers to remain at home and still get paid during the lockdown. An agreement has been reached allowing more than 100 000 clothing and textile workers to remain at home and still get paid during the lockdown.
An agreement has been reached allowing more than 100 000 clothing and textile workers to remain at home and still get paid during the lockdown.
A Clothing Covid-19 Agreement Command Council was set up and within seven days they were able to agree on the payment and way forward for workers.
The SA Clothing and Textile Worker’s Union (Sactwu) was able to reach an agreement with employers who conceded that they also needed to pay.
Sactwu general secretary Andre Kriel said: “The hardest part was to convince them (employers) that they must take money out of their own pockets to put on the table. We understand textile employees and textile companies are struggling. It’s not among the richest businesses in the country... so that was the hardest part of negotiations.”
But Sactwu warned that there were workers who have been left out in the cold
“Regrettably, talks to conclude a similar agreement under the auspices of the leather bargaining council had collapsed on Wednesday afternoon because footwear and leather employers were not prepared to make a cash contribution to their workers’ lost wages during this period of national crisis,” the union said in a statement.
There are 15 000 workers who are part of the Footwear and Leather Bargaining Council.
Kriel said every worker supports on average five family members so take that 15 000 and multiply it by five and that was the average of people who have been prejudiced because of the “selfishness” of the footwear and leather employers.
Employers tried to add conditions to the Covid-19 Lockdown Collective Agreement, but Kriel said they stood firm.
“We have refused in our discussions with the Clothing Bargaining Council with the Textile Bargaining Council, and with the Footwear and Leather Bargaining Council to give any commitment that there will be no wage increases after this crisis.”
In the clothing sector they reached an agreement that the wage negotiation process would be placed on hold, and if an increase is agreed on then workers would be guaranteed backpay.