Cape Town - Thousands of farmworkers - the majority of them women - have lost their jobs since the violent farmworkers’ strike in 2012 ended with a 52 percent pay increase for workers
, says the Women On Farms Project (WFP).
In the light of the government’s 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children campaign, the WFP has said farmers were violating the rights of women working on farms, prompting the project to call for a national response.
“Since the wage increase in March 2013 there has been an increase in job losses. It’s a clear backlash after the strikes. We call on the government to act because women are also being targeted. It’s the way the farm industry operates. It’s still very patriarchal,” spokeswoman Carmen Louw said.
She said more than 73 000 farmworkers had lost their jobs since the wage strike ended.
A Labour Force survey confirming the job losses was released by Statistics SA on October 30.
“Women working on farms get paid less and the majority of permanent posts get offered to men. It’s shameful the way they are treated,” said Louw.
She said the areas where women were worst affected were Rawsonville, Paarl, Wellington, Stellenbosch and De Doorns.
Farmworker unions, the Building and Allied Workers Union of SA (Bawusa), the Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu) as well as Cosatu said since the massive strike in the Hex River Valley in 2012, thousands of workers had lost jobs. They agreed with Louw that female workers had been “targeted” by farmers.
Two years ago work on farms in the Western Cape came to a standstill. Workers blockaded the N1 and clashed with police throughout the Boland - Ceres, Wolseley, Robertson and Ashton. In some areas vineyards were set alight.
Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant established a new sectoral wage determination and the minimum daily pay was increased by 52 percent. At the time many farm owners said the increase would lead to job cuts.
Before the strike farmworkers were being paid R69.37 a day. After March 2013, they were paid R105 a day. Currently the daily pay rate is R111.97.
“Yes, women farmworkers are being targeted. The women were very militant and many were at the forefront of the strike. Them being fired and treated badly is a case of farmers taking revenge against them,” Bawusa general secretary Nosey Pieterse said.
Agri-West Cape chief executive Carl Opperman said: “It being 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children, the unions are obviously looking for something to lift their profile. Yes, we are using less labour… We are looking for people who give us more productivity, but to say we are targeting women is unwarranted.”
Economic Opportunities MEC Alan Winde said: “We are conducting surveys on farms across the province which will provide us with hard information. We aim to use this as the basis for our strategies going forward.”
Fawu spokeswoman Domin-ique Swartz said: “It is a trend that women are ostracised. We are engaging with farmers not to victimise female farmworkers.”
Cosatu provincial secretary Tony Ehrenreich said: “Many women have not only lost their jobs, but are also having their rights violated. The government needs to reform this.”
Cape Times