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allAfrica.com: South Africa: Fawu Stage Mass Recruitment Drive in Witfontein, North-West

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The Food and Allied Workers’ Union will hold a mass recruitment drive today at 10h00 at the Thsegofatsho Farm School in Witfontein, just outside Ottosdal in the North West province to recruit farm workers in order to assist those that have been unfairly dismissed, retrenched, evicted, assaulted and injured on farms.

It seems that farmers in the area are hell-bent on dismissing and evicting farm workers, claiming they cannot afford the new minimum wage whilst not showing any proof that they are financially unable to.

These farmers and others who want to retrench workers should show their audited financial statements to FAWU or the Dept of Labour should re-audit their books for them as a matter of urgency.

Tribal authorities from small villages, who allow workers to go and work in other provinces on farms should see that these workers get the minimum wage as stated by the laws of South Africa. Currently, these workers are being taken from the North-West province to go and work in other provinces where they end up being abused by farmers. The union also wants to urge workers that they should not documents which they don’t understand as they could end up signing themselves out of employment.

We urge all farm workers who have been injured, evicted, retrenched or abused to call FAWU or the Department of Labour NOW!

via allAfrica.com: South Africa: Fawu Stage Mass Recruitment Drive in Witfontein, North-West.

EFF plans to ‘agitate’ for higher mineworkers’ pay | Labour | BDlive

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THE Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), the new political party led by former African National Congress (ANC) Youth League chief Julius Malema, is to target mineworkers as its primary constituency and says it will “agitate” during this year’s wage talks for a minimum wage of R12,500.

There is already much anxiety that mining wage negotiations will be marred by labour unrest and violence with unions having made unprecedented demands. The EFF’s intentions can be expected to further inflame tensions and heighten these risks.

The EFF, which this weekend held a national assembly of representatives from around South Africa, also unveiled its logo, which along with a fist, a spear and the map of Africa, features a mining headgear, leaving no doubt as to what its focus will be. Among its key policies are nationalisation of the mines and banks.

EFF spokesman Floyd Shivambu said in an interview on Monday the inclusion of the mining headgear on the logo “symbolis es our commitment to reclaim South Africa’s mineral wealth … which constitutes the core of our political programme”. The party will be formally launched on August 17 — one day after the first anniversary of the Marikana massacre — at a rally in Marikana.

At the weekend assembly, worker leader Xolani Nzuza, who played a central role in the workers’ committee set up to negotiate with Lonmin during last year’s strike, is reported to have been “paraded prominently” as a leader of the EFF. In an interview on Monday, Mr Nzuza said he had joined the EFF because “there are many things that this organisation will change, such as our working conditions”.

Many mineworkers were asking him for membership forms as they still felt angry about last year’s events, he said. “The president of the country labelled the Marikana workers as hooligans, while Julius Malema came to speak to us.”

via EFF plans to ‘agitate’ for higher mineworkers’ pay | Labour | BDlive.

allAfrica.com: South Africa: High Compliance Level By Employers in Mpumalanga Hospitality Sector – DOL

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A relatively high level of employers inspected by Department of Labour officials in the Gert Sibande Region in Mpumalanga this week were complying with the hospitality sectoral determination, a report issued by the department on Friday said.

This followed a rigorous process that commenced on Monday in the region as part of national inspections in Mpumalanga, North West, Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape. The inspections form part of labour Minister, Mildred Oliphant’s drive to ensure protection of vulnerable workers in the country by seeing to it that employers abide by all labour laws.

Evelyn Mokoena, deputy director of inspection and enforcement services in the province, said out of the 49 workplaces inspected 29 were found to be complying with the labour laws around minimum wages – compensation for occupational injuries and diseases Act – unemployment insurance Act – unemployment insurance contributions Act – and the employment equity law.

“We appreciate this high level of compliance among employers and wish it can be replicated in other parts of the country. We also urge employers to collaborate with inspectors in the interests of productivity, economic growth and to promote sound labour relations at workplaces,” she said.

via allAfrica.com: South Africa: High Compliance Level By Employers in Mpumalanga Hospitality Sector – DOL.

Department of Labour to host a Seminar on Wholesale and Retail Sector — Department of Labour

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The Department of Labour (DoL) through its Inspection and Enforcement Services (IES) branch plans to hold a Wholesale and Retail Seminar at the Olive Conference Centre in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, as part of an advocacy campaign to highlight voluntary compliance in the workplace.

The Seminar is held at the crucial moment as the department’s Inspection and Enforcement Services is pursuing the professionalization of its inspectorate, beefing up work place visits and inspections with focus on Wholesale and Retail sector, and advancing advocacy programmes with the aim of ensuring compliance to South Africa’s labour laws. The seminar will be held on 7 August 2013.

The theme of the Seminar is: “Sustainable small, medium and micro enterprises (SMME’s) in the Wholesale and Retail Sector”.  The theme dovetails on government’s endeavor and programme of action to create jobs and develop small businesses for sustainable employment.

The Seminar will seek to highlight how the Department of Labour could play a role to assist SMME’s to sustain themselves while complying with legislation such as the Occupational Health and Safety Act;  Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act and a myriad of other labour laws that are currently undergoing amendments in Parliament.

The Seminar is expected to attract more than 300 guests from the wholesale and retail sector, labour unions and interested stakeholders. It is expected to be addressed by DoL’s Deputy Director-General of IES Thobile Lamati; DoL’s IES Chief Director: Statutory & Advocacy Services Virgil Seafield. There will also be speakers from Wholesale and Retail Sector(s); Sector Education and Training Authority (Seta), Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration; Compensation Fund; and the department’s representatives.

The presentations of speakers will serve to discuss the state of compliance within the Wholesale and Retail Sector; complexities, challenges and dynamics of the sector; the role of industry Seta; prevalence of injuries and occupational diseases in the wholesale and retail sector; effective reporting of occupational injuries and diseases; compliance challenges within the sector; the role and importance of workers and their representatives in enhancing job protection in the sector.

Media is invited to attend the seminar.

via Department of Labour to host a Seminar on Wholesale and Retail Sector — Department of Labour.

Taxi, hospitality employees awarded salary increases | Labour | BDlive

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With respect to the hospitality industry, employers with 10 or less staff are required to pay their employees a monthly wage of no less than R2,415.86, or R12.39 per hour.

Employers with more than 11 employees must pay a minimum monthly wage of no less than R2,692.74, or at least R13.81 per hour. These wage increments affect all employers in the hospitality sector, from big nationwide chains to small restaurant owners.

via Taxi, hospitality employees awarded salary increases | Labour | BDlive.

Wage talks in South Africa’s gold sector reach standstill: strike imminent | MINING.com

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South African unions representing gold miners said Wednesday wage negotiations have reached a standstill and that a legal strike is imminent, after they rejected offers from seven companies.

Gold producers represented by the Chamber of Mines of South Africa (CMSA) proposed wage hike of 5%, up from the 4% previously offered.

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) general secretary, Frans Baleni, said the 1% increase offered was an insult to workers and proceed to declare a deadlock in the negotiations.

The dispute is now going to arbitration, Bloomberg reported, as the sector proposal does not come close to meeting union demands, which include pay increases of more than double.

The more-established NUM is asking for a 60% increase from the minimum entry-level salary for gold miners, while the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) — South Africa’s fastest-growing mining labour coalition — seeks more than a two-fold rise.

“The effect of this offer would be to raise the guaranteed pay of entry-level underground employees for major gold-producing companies to at least US$980 per month,” the CMSA said in an e-mailed statement.

Analysts agree the outcome of the upcoming arbitration may push gold producers to leave South Africa or simply close down all operations, as costs continue to escalate.

Earlier this month, the chamber’s chief executive officer, Bheki Sibiya, said a wage negotiation failure would likely destroy South Africa’s largest export industry and the nation’s credit rating.

“Neither the industry nor the country can afford yet another wave of calamitous workplace disorder that delivers additional global uncertainty and becomes the cause of further downgrades of South Africa’s sovereign credit rating,” Sibiya wrote.

South Africa’s two main mining sectors, platinum and gold, are under pressure from spiralling costs and weaker commodity prices. Their representatives have warned than any significant increase in wages will risk more job losses and trigger closures.

via Wage talks in South Africa’s gold sector reach standstill: strike imminent | MINING.com.

South Africa Readies for Gold-Mining Wage Talks – WSJ.com

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LONDON—South Africa is likely to start official gold-mining wage talks sometime in the middle of July as unions have lodged their demands, including for sharp pay increases, against a backdrop of tense labor relations.

The Chamber of Mines received demands from four labor unions that will form the basis of the wage talks, said Elize Strydom, the senior executive in charge of industrial relations at the chamber.

“It is incumbent upon all of us to agree on a protocol on what we will negotiate, and what will be acceptable and won’t be acceptable conduct,” she said.

Wage contracts come to an end June 30, but she said even though wage negotiations are only likely to start in the middle of July, the results of those talks could be applied retroactively from July 1.

via South Africa Readies for Gold-Mining Wage Talks – WSJ.com.

South African Mine Industry at Stake in Wage Talks, Chamber Says – Businessweek

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South African mining companies and trade unions risk destroying the country’s biggest export industry and threatening its credit rating should wage talks fail, according to the Chamber of Mines.

“Failure is not an option as this will accelerate the creeping destruction of one of South Africa’s most important industries and inhibit the investment support that the country so urgently needs,” Bheki Sibiya, the Chamber’s chief executive officer, wrote in the Johannesburg-based Business Day newspaper.

Falling precious-metal prices and higher costs have squeezed South Africa’s gold and platinum producers, who are facing demands from labor unions to as much as double wages for entry-level workers. A year ago, strikes spilled over into violence that led to the deaths of 44 people and shaved 0.5 percentage points off economic growth.

Gold dropped 23 percent in the second quarter, the biggest three-month slump on record, while platinum is down 11 percent this year. More than half of South Africa’s gold and platinum operations are “in loss-making positions,” Sibiya said.

via South African Mine Industry at Stake in Wage Talks, Chamber Says – Businessweek.