ECC to consider inputs on farmworkers' wages
The Employment Conditions Commission (ECC) will on Thursday meet to consider inputs collected from the nationwide public hearings on farmworkers' wages.
The Department of Labour on Monday said the inputs would be used to set a new minimum wage determination for farmworkers.
The department's acting Director of Labour Standards, Titus Mtsweni, said following the conclusion of the week-long special farmworkers public hearings, held in the epicentre of the industrial action in the Western Cape, a report will be submitted to Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant, who will then consider the recommendations of the ECC.
Mtsweni said, barring any unexpected eventualities, the minister is expected to pronounce on the new minimum wage determination early in February.
He said once Oliphant makes a pronouncement on the new determination, the new wage adjustments will be gazetted the following day to effect a legislative stamp of approval.
The ECC is an advisory body comprising government representatives, labour unions and employers. It advises the Labour Minister on wages and other conditions of employment in the vulnerable sectors, including agriculture/farming.
The Labour Department concluded week-long public hearings on Sunday in Vredendal in Western Cape.
Similar public hearings were also held last week in the Paarl, De Doorns, Robertson and Oudshoorn regions.
The extra Western Cape public hearings were a continuation of a consultative process that was initiated by the department last year following bitter farmworkers industrial action.
In November and December, the department embarked on a nationwide public hearing campaign in areas such as Worcester in the Western Cape, Boston in KwaZulu-Natal, Makhado in Limpopo, Ottosdal in the North West, Bothaville in the Free State, Keimoes in the Northern Cape and KwaMhlushwa in Mpumalanga.
The process currently underway was trigged last year when farmworkers in De Doorns embarked on a strike to have their minimum R69 daily wage increased to R150.
The strike was called off on December 4, but was resumed early in the new year.
A common theme that emerged in the public hearings from farmworkers and their representative organisations was that workers were being paid "slave wages" and needed a "living wage".
On their part, farmers argue that they cannot afford high wages as they are battling to keep their business afloat amid intense competition from highly subsidised imported farm produce, which they say would force them to resort to machinery to replace human capital.
The current minimum wage sectoral determination is binding until the end of February. The new minimum wage stipulation will come into effect on March 1 in terms of Basic Conditions of Employment Act.
Comments
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation