A union representing farmworkers has threatened that strikes in De Doorns are set to resume before the end of the month.
|||Cape Town - A union representing farmworkers has threatened that strikes in De Doorns are set to resume before the end of the month.
The Food and Allied Workers’ Union (Fawu) has accused some farmers in the grape growing valley of using labour brokers to replace permanent and seasonal staff now that the labour intensive harvest season has ended.
Katishi Masemola, Fawu’s general secretary, called it a concerted “cleansing process” to get rid of workers who vocally demand that the new minimum wage (R105 a day) be adhered to.
The accusation is that some labour brokers are providing workers for R80 to R90 a day.
Violent strikes over poor wages in November and January brought some farming in the Western Cape to a standstill.
Vandalism caused millions in damages. Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant launched a series of meetings which resulted in a new sectoral determination of a minimum wage. The new wage was a 52 percent increase from the previous minimum of R69 a day.
But Porchia Adams, spokeswoman for AgriWes-Cape which represents farmers in the province, accused Fawu of basing its statements on allegations and speculation.
“Agri Wes-Cape insists on actual proven facts, which we would gladly respond to,” Adams said.
Karel Swart, assistant General Secretary at Commercial Stevedoring Agricultural & Allied Workers’ Union (CSAAWU), has said that conditions for farmworkers have actually worsened since the new sectoral determination was implemented in March.
“Many farmers have dismissed workers and asked those remaining workers to sign new contracts which include deductions for rent, electricity and transport. In this way, employers have made up any deficit of having to pay a higher minimum wage,” Swart said.
He said that CSAAWU had taken over 30 cases of apparent “unfair” dismissal to the labour court. CSAAWU’s membership support hails mostly from the farms around Robertson, Bonnievale and Montagu.
But Jacques Beukes, a farmer from De Doorns, said that allegations of the widespread use of labour brokers and contractual clauses which aimed to undermine the new minimum wage were generally untrue.
“I suspect that the unions’ grievances come from the fact that there is simply less work for fewer people at the moment because the harvest season is over,” he said.
daneel.knoetze@inl.co.za
Cape Argus