RESPONSE TO SACTWU'S AWARDING OF ‘WORST EMPLOYER AWARD' TO NEWCASTLE CHINESE EMPLOYERS
We acknowledge the "award" that the Southern African Clothing and Textiles Workers' Union bestowed upon the Newcastle Chinese Chamber of Commerce at their 11th National Congress, which was recently held in Cape Town. However, we are disappointed at the way the press statement released by Sactwu on 26 September 2010 has branded Chinese-South African's in a negative way that further polarizes South Africa's diverse ethnic population.
We feel that it is imperative to respond to some of the accusations made in Sactwu's press statement of 26 September 2010. To brand the Newcastle Chinese Chamber of Commerce as "employers who break down, not build decent work in the clothing industry" is inaccurate. Throughout the entire process of talking to and negotiating with the Bargaining Council and Sactwu, which only began in late August of 2010 we have been transparent, honest and have continually stated that we wish to find an equable solution for employers, employees and for the South African clothing industry.
Our involvement in the clothing industry has created much needed employment in Newcastle. The Chinese Chamber of Commerce has 115 members with only 45 members being involved in the clothing sector representing approximately 2500 workers not the "4000" stated by the union. We believe the union has got its facts confused as they had initially engaged with the Newcastle Chinese Clothing & Textile Association in September 2009 and not with our chamber. It must also be stated that there are currently 358 clothing companies in the whole of South Africa that are targeted by the Bargaining Council for not paying minimum wages. According to the Bargaining Council, the worst paying employer in South Africa is not a Chinese company.
At our initial meeting with the union, we placed on record our willingness and intention of creating a ‘disciplinary committee' that would have external moderators and evaluators to ensure that our members comply with the outcome of the current negotiations. When we discovered that members of the Newcastle Chinese Clothing & Textile Association were paying unacceptable wages, we immediately distanced ourselves from them. Subsequently, all negotiations with the Bargaining Council and the union by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce have been only for its members and no other party. We have however joined other employer associations in South Africa to submit a new wage proposal to the Bargaining Council as was requested by the Department of Labor.
We are perturbed when the union states in its press release, "employment creation in the clothing industry cannot be based on slave wages." First, there needs to be a clear definition by the union to the meaning of "slave wages," and secondly we have never had any intention to exploit Newcastle's community. We have stated the various reasons why we cannot afford the current legislated wages and these reasons have been widely published in the media. In this regard it must once again be mentioned that more than half of all the companies registered with the Bargaining Council do not pay the minimum wages. This is a sure indication that the whole wage structure of the clothing industry in South Africa is wrong.
We are perplexed with the union's accusation that "clothing sector member companies of this Chamber pay a machinist between R180 and R280 a week." According to our information, our members are paying between R250 and R550 a week for a qualified machinist. We would like the union to please provide us with the evidence as to where they got those figures and to identify the factories so that we can confirm if the companies that the union accuses are members of our Chamber.
We would also like to dispel the misrepresentation the union has placed on the Chinese community in Newcastle that we are only here to exploit the local workers. A large number of our members are South African citizens and we have shown our commitment to our country by trying to keep our factories open under extremely difficult conditions and thereby assisting in job creation and poverty alleviation. Over the past three years, our members have also engaged in a number of Corporate Social Responsibility projects.
- In 2008 one of our members assisted in the upgrading of Newcastle's traffic lights by donating 154 LED traffic lights.
- Our Chamber has donated 10 PCs to schools and a NGO in the community.
- Sponsored our local SAPS Christmas parties for police widows and orphans and continue to provide our local police force with food parcels for them to distribute to our community.
- In 2009, our members gave donations to Amitofo Care Centre, which cares for more than 350 orphans.
- Our temple has donated more than 150 wheel chairs to a Newcastle based school for the disabled.
- The annual Dragon Festival, which is celebrated by the Chinese community, attracts many visitors, which in turn provides income-generating opportunities for the business community of Newcastle.
- The Chinese Tzu-Chi Foundations assists with food parcel deliveries within our community. During May and June this year, the Tzu-Chi Foundation distributed more than 1000 food parcels.
- In August this year, one of our members won the ‘Productivity Award' for the KwaZulu-Natal region and will be going on to compete for the national award in October.
- We have plans to build a kitchen and fence for Ncandu combined school.
Are these the actions of a community that intends to exploit South Africans? As a community, we are, extremely aggrieved that the union has unfairly discriminated against our Chamber and its members.
Our intentions and those of our members is to find an equable solution to the current impasse over reasonable wages considering the extremely difficult and challenging environment we are faced to operate in. The South African clothing sector has seen the closure of dozens of factories and the loss of thousands of jobs over the past few years. Can the union, the industry, the country and South African people afford further losses because of the inflexibility of finding a solution around a marginal difference in wages?
Furthermore, if our members are forced to close or even relocate to other African countries can the union guarantee that their members who will join the ranks of the unemployed be able to find new employment within the sector.
Alex Liu is chairman of the Newcastle Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
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