The Southern African clothing and textile workers’ union (SACTWU) affiliated to the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) has called for a substantial increase in the monthly wages of clothing retail sector workers.
SACTWU submitted its proposals to the employment conditions commission on May 30. This follows a government gazette notice recently published by the labour minister, notifying the industry that the sectoral determination governing conditions of employment in the wholesale and retail sector is being reviewed.
In its submission, SACTWU has proposed that the legislated minimum wage for shop assistants be increased by almost 40 per cent from the current R3250 ($267) per month. The union said the figure was far below the average monthly minimum wage of R4165 ($342) for a labourer in the manufacturing sector. This is despite the clothing retail sector being generally more profitable.
The SACTWU said it was appalled by the extremely large wage gap between retail workers and their CEO’s. For example, the CEO of Shoprite earned a salary package of R49.9m ($4 million) in 2014.
In its submission, SACTWU called for the introduction of a compulsory retirement fund for clothing retail workers.
In addition, it has proposed improvements in hours of work, overtime payments, night duty payments, annual leave provisions, sick leave entitlements, family responsibility leave, meal and rest intervals. (SH)
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