Source: Business Report, 26 March 2012
Small clothing factories cannot afford to pay their workers the legal minimum wage prescribed by the Department of Labour as major clothing retailers exert pressure by demanding low manufacturing rates.
This is according to small companies’ representatives in KwaZulu-Natal after the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (Sactwu) marched last week against factories in the Sithebe area in the north of the province that did not comply with minimum wage agreements for the sector. About 3 500 Sactwu members demanded decent wages.
The minimum wage for a machinist working in the textile industry is about R481 a week. Non-compliant companies are paying about R340.
Alex Liu, a deputy chairman of the United Clothing and Textile Association, said about 128 of its members, mainly from Newcastle, were non-compliant. He complained that they were not given an opportunity to participate in the legal wage agreement. Liu said such businesses could not afford to pay the minimum wages unless the entire clothing industry, including retailers, realigned their price points throughout the value chain.
He said most of the factories operated as cut, make and trim (CMT) businesses that were also receiving outsourced work from complying factories at much lower prices.
“Most of these factories were not given an opportunity to participate in negotiations on the legal wages gazetted by the Labour Department and they cannot afford to pay such salaries unless retailers revise their price demand.”
Chairman of the association Ahmed Paruk said of the 30 factories in the Sithebe area, only five were compliant and the remaining companies could not afford the stated wages.
Paruk said if Sactwu continued to exert pressure on these companies, they would have to shut down and leave hundreds of people without jobs.
Depending on the design, some garments are manufactured for as little as R5 and then passed on to a smaller textile firm to be stitched or buttoned, also at a low rate. The association refused to name factories, saying they would be subject to victimisation.
Sactwu’s regional secretary in KwaZulu-Natal, Dennis Maluleka, said the non-compliant factories should not operate businesses if they could not afford to pay workers.
Liu disagreed, saying shutting down factories would result in unemployment and would force companies to open operations in Lesotho and Swaziland where there was less compliance.
Maluleka said the 2010 wage agreement between the Labour Department and the textile industry stipulated that companies should pay 70 percent of the minimum wage within a year of the deal. This was expected to increase to 90 percent at the beginning of this year and 100 percent by May.
Maluleka said most of these companies operated as CMT factories which carried out production mainly for big textile companies that were compliant. “These factories are getting a raw deal from the big established textile factories, who receive huge contracts with clothing retailers but do not have the manpower to service the entire contract and then outsource part of it to several of these smaller factories who do the work at a very low rate.”
He added that the big firms sometimes took on too much work with a short deadline.
He said this system had put the smaller factories under enormous pressure as they had to pay rent, electricity and operational costs.
Maluleka said small firms could apply for exemption through the bargaining council but they must be prepared to give valid reasons. Once they met the criteria they could be exempted for at least a year. - Nompumelelo Magwaza .
More information, visit:
Threads of Labour: Garment Industry Supply Chains from the Workers' Perspective (Antipode Book Series)
LESOTHO: Construction plans for proposed $100,000,000 garment factories and denim mill, NIEN HSING TEXTILE CO. LTD. [Taiwan] - Order #: 072001.: An ... Opportunities in Africa & the Middle East
28: Stories of AIDS in Africa
Special Economic Zones in Africa: Comparing Performance and Learning from Global Experiences (Directions in Development)
Yes, Africa Can: Success Stories from a Dynamic Continent
Clean Clothes: A Global Movement to End Sweatshops
Harnessing Foreign Direct Investment for Development: Policies for Developed and Developing Countries
Small clothing factories cannot afford to pay their workers the legal minimum wage prescribed by the Department of Labour as major clothing retailers exert pressure by demanding low manufacturing rates.
This is according to small companies’ representatives in KwaZulu-Natal after the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (Sactwu) marched last week against factories in the Sithebe area in the north of the province that did not comply with minimum wage agreements for the sector. About 3 500 Sactwu members demanded decent wages.
The minimum wage for a machinist working in the textile industry is about R481 a week. Non-compliant companies are paying about R340.
Alex Liu, a deputy chairman of the United Clothing and Textile Association, said about 128 of its members, mainly from Newcastle, were non-compliant. He complained that they were not given an opportunity to participate in the legal wage agreement. Liu said such businesses could not afford to pay the minimum wages unless the entire clothing industry, including retailers, realigned their price points throughout the value chain.
He said most of the factories operated as cut, make and trim (CMT) businesses that were also receiving outsourced work from complying factories at much lower prices.
“Most of these factories were not given an opportunity to participate in negotiations on the legal wages gazetted by the Labour Department and they cannot afford to pay such salaries unless retailers revise their price demand.”
Chairman of the association Ahmed Paruk said of the 30 factories in the Sithebe area, only five were compliant and the remaining companies could not afford the stated wages.
Paruk said if Sactwu continued to exert pressure on these companies, they would have to shut down and leave hundreds of people without jobs.
Depending on the design, some garments are manufactured for as little as R5 and then passed on to a smaller textile firm to be stitched or buttoned, also at a low rate. The association refused to name factories, saying they would be subject to victimisation.
Sactwu’s regional secretary in KwaZulu-Natal, Dennis Maluleka, said the non-compliant factories should not operate businesses if they could not afford to pay workers.
Liu disagreed, saying shutting down factories would result in unemployment and would force companies to open operations in Lesotho and Swaziland where there was less compliance.
Maluleka said the 2010 wage agreement between the Labour Department and the textile industry stipulated that companies should pay 70 percent of the minimum wage within a year of the deal. This was expected to increase to 90 percent at the beginning of this year and 100 percent by May.
Maluleka said most of these companies operated as CMT factories which carried out production mainly for big textile companies that were compliant. “These factories are getting a raw deal from the big established textile factories, who receive huge contracts with clothing retailers but do not have the manpower to service the entire contract and then outsource part of it to several of these smaller factories who do the work at a very low rate.”
He added that the big firms sometimes took on too much work with a short deadline.
He said this system had put the smaller factories under enormous pressure as they had to pay rent, electricity and operational costs.
Maluleka said small firms could apply for exemption through the bargaining council but they must be prepared to give valid reasons. Once they met the criteria they could be exempted for at least a year. - Nompumelelo Magwaza .
More information, visit:
Threads of Labour: Garment Industry Supply Chains from the Workers' Perspective (Antipode Book Series)
LESOTHO: Construction plans for proposed $100,000,000 garment factories and denim mill, NIEN HSING TEXTILE CO. LTD. [Taiwan] - Order #: 072001.: An ... Opportunities in Africa & the Middle East
28: Stories of AIDS in Africa
Special Economic Zones in Africa: Comparing Performance and Learning from Global Experiences (Directions in Development)
Yes, Africa Can: Success Stories from a Dynamic Continent
Clean Clothes: A Global Movement to End Sweatshops
Harnessing Foreign Direct Investment for Development: Policies for Developed and Developing Countries
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