Cape Town - The Food and Allied Workers Union
(Fawu) expects the new minimum wage for farm workers to be no less than
R100 a day, the union said on Saturday.
“As now expected, the new minimum
will in all likelihood be R105 a day wages, far below the clarion call
of R150 a day but significantly above the ridiculous low levels of R69 a
day,” Fawu general secretary Katishi Masemola said in a statement.
Fawu said it maintained that the minimum wage be increased again to R150 at a later stage.
“We call on government, farm
owners, retail outlets, exporters and importers to join together with
unions and ensure that in the near future the minimum wage of R150 can
be paid on all farms,” said Masemola.
“As a meaningful step towards
obtaining this we call upon (Labour) Minister Mildred Oliphant, in her
announcement on Monday to raise the minimum wage by over 50 percent to
no less than R105 per day.”
Masemola said the union would also focus on further demands for its workers.
Fawu
was also calling for the home affairs department to provide a special
dispensation document for workers in the Western Cape farms.
“We also want foreign nationals
working in the agricultural sector in general to be assisted with
documentation and the practice of deporting striking workers to stop.”
Workers embarked on strike action
last year, demanding the minimum wage be increased to R150 from R69.
They were also demanding a cohesive land reform programme be
implemented.
The strike was suspended in December but resumed in January. - Sapa
