The Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (Sactwu) has settled another 2018 wage agreement in the clothing industry - this time within the non-woven textile sub-sector.
The two-year agreement stipulates that the sector’s approximately 1200 workers nationally will receive a 7.25% wage increase this year, and the same percentage next year as well.
This is according to Sactwu general secretary Andre Kriel, who said the sector’s increases were due in July, and that the 2018 increase would be backdated to July 1.
Kriel said the agreement was reached between Sactwu and the sector employers, who were represented in the wage talks by the National Textile Manufacturers’ Association (NTMA).
The agreement was reached under the auspices of the National Textile Bargaining Council (NTBC), he added.
Linda Bremner, the NTMA’s chief negotiator, said: “This year the negotiations were particularly tough, in that we had five meetings to try to reach an agreement.
‘‘We were only able to reach an agreement after a dispute had been declared. We signed the agreement on August17, and backdated the increase to July 1.”
Explaining that non-woven textiles were machine-woven items, Bremner said: “Non-woven fabrics are materials made from fibres that are bonded together by chemical, mechanical or heat treatment.
“As the chief negotiator, I negotiate for the employers, but once the agreement gets gazetted in the Government Gazette, all employers in the sector must apply the terms of the increase agreement.”