Cape Town - The Cosatu-affiliated Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (Sactwu) has settled its wage dispute in the footwear sector.
The dispute was settled after three rounds of wage negotiations and a dispute meeting, Sactwu general secretary Andre Kriel said on Monday.
The new wage increase of 6.8% for Sactwu’s footwear sector members will be backdated to July 1, 2022.
“The signature processes for the written wage agreement for this new footwear sector wage settlement were completed on July 5, 2022. This new collective agreement for the footwear sector is effective from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023,” Kriel said.
The new collective agreement was successfully concluded under the dispute processes and procedures of the National Bargaining Council of the Leather Industry of South Africa, with employers represented by the Southern African Footwear & Leather Industries Association (SAFLIA).
In addition to the wage increases, the footwear sector agreement also provides for one additional day’s paid family responsibility leave, a recommendation to the bargaining council to increase the employee agency shop fee, and a commitment to commence a process as soon as possible to renew the Footwear Main Agreement, the Import Replacement Scheme, as well as the Employee Assistance Schemes.
“This now signed new collective agreement for the footwear sector will be submitted to the Minister of Employment and Labour, with a request for its gazettal and extension to non-party employers,” Kriel said.
Sactwu on Friday announced it had settled its dispute in the leather-tanning sector, with a 7.25% wage increase. The settlement covers about 2 500 leather-tanning sector workers nationally, in 24 factories, and was achieved after three negotiation rounds which commenced on April 12 followed by two dispute conciliation meetings.
On Wednesday, Sactwu announced a settlement in the worsted textile sub-sector wage dispute, providing for wage increases ranging between 7.5% and 8% for this year and next year.
The worsted textiles collective agreement provides for an extra day’s paid annual leave per year for workers who have completed eight years’ consecutive service on permanent staff.
Cape Times