Transvaal Agricultural Union vows to fight labour minister
Minimum farm wages draw flak
April 4, 2006
By Neesa Moodley
Durban - The Transvaal Agricultural Union (TAU) intends to declare a dispute against the minister of labour, Membathisi Mdladlana, over the recently announced minimum wage increases for farm workers.
Tinus Taute, the TAU's head of economic affairs, said farmers were facing increasing input costs while profit margins in some instances had remained static for several years.
"Property rates, water levies, diesel and fuel have all gone up. The cumulative effect is that profit margins are no longer realistic and the unrealistic increase of the minimum wage is likely to lead to retrenchments," he said.
Increases announced by the minister last month will be implemented over the next three years. This year they will rise by between 24 percent and 36 percent, moving from R800 a month in urban areas to R994 and from R650 a month in rural areas to R885.
Next year wages will increase to R1 041 and R989 a month for urban and rural areas, respectively, before reaching the same minimum wage of R1 090 a month in 2008.
The minister has said the shift towards a single minimum wage for the sector was a result of extensive engagement with stakeholders.
Lourie Bosman, the president of Agri SA, said the organisation did not think it was feasible to declare a dispute with the minister but it had sent him a letter of appeal highlighting "several issues of concern".
Bosman was particularly concerned with the increase in the rural areas.
"Farmers nationally pay about R9 billion in labour costs and this represents an increase of R1 billion across the country," he said.
He said statistics showed the agriculture sector had lost 138 000 workers between 2004 and 2005, largely due to economic factors, and the new wage made it "quite impossible" to increase the workforce.
But he said there had been some negotiation and farmers could now deduct costs for accommodation if there was running water and electricity in the close vicinity.
Mokgadi Pela, Mdladlana's spokesperson, said wages were decided on the advice of an employment conditions committee, including representation from organised agriculture, so "TAU are fighting themselves".
The TAU also failed to join other industry players, including Agri SA, in signing a memorandum of understanding with the department of labour earlier this month.
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