Labour Dept must help resolve strike - Agri Minister
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson has called on the Labour Department to intervene in the Western Cape farm workers’ strike.
Tina Joemat-Pettersson
“I have no capacity to advise or influence the employment conditions commission,” she told SAfm on Wednesday morning.
“That is a matter for the department of labour or the minister of labour. We have done what we could as the department of agriculture and we will continue supporting workers.”
She said she had helped “restore relationships” between striking farm workers and farmers.
“I think we’ve [the department] acted as a facilitator to allow that these negotiations and talks stay on track... We cannot afford this sector to lose jobs... that is why we decided to participate in normalising the situation.”
Business Day reported on Wednesday that Joemat-Pettersson told workers on Tuesday afternoon she would speak to President Jacob Zuma on their behalf.
“I will tell the president that we cannot ignore the call of the farm workers. From there we will go to the labour minister to discuss sectoral determinations,” she was quoted as saying.
Grape harvesters in the Hex River Valley, in the Western Cape, had been protesting for a week over their wages, demanding R150 a day. Most earned between R69 and R75 a day, with R80 being the highest and only offer from farmers.
Several protesters have been arrested for public violence.
“We call on all workers to stop the violence, to stop the vandalism,” the minister said on SAfm.
On Tuesday, Joemat-Pettersson called for an end to the violence in the De Doorns area.
She was commenting after being asked by their representatives and unions to escalate their demands to an inter-ministerial meeting to review the minimum wage for the entire agriculture sector.
“The farmworkers’ unions said they were willing to abandon the strikes for two weeks until a solution to the wage issue was found,” Joemat-Pettersson said in a statement on Tuesday night.
Farmworkers in the area went on strike last week. They are asking for R150 per day in wages.
“The farmworker unions demanded that workers should be paid a minimum of R80 per day in wages with immediate effect. The workers were also urged to go to work tomorrow,” she said.
Joemat-Pettersson said rising food prices and food insecurity made it impossible for people to live on R70 a day and that intervention was needed to improve the situation.
She said inequality, unemployment and poverty would never be eliminated if vulnerable workers were not paid decent wages and their living conditions were not improved.
“The challenge is on us as government to ensure that when we speak of a developmental country we address the triple challenges and how we can eradicate them.”
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Comments
MommaC
Does this woman have any clue about anything in her portfolio?Yes, the wages are shockingly low (now what was Cosatu thinking when they negotiated THAT insult of a daily rate?) but did she find out if the farmers were financially able to cover a more than doubling of the daily rate?
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!#Sinudeity#!
Why is the minister of "lets move the fisheries department to Pretoria" still in office?Report Abuse
RobinX
Tina is just pathetic. Looks .... and talks... like a Cupie doll, and seems to have the brains to match.Report Abuse
RobinX
And she seems to have learned the mantra from "It's-not-my-problem Angie".Report Abuse
Impela
If we, as society, condone the abandonment of the rule of law in favour of the rule of violence, then we should anticipate being ruled by 'untouchables'.Most of Africa is plagued by the collapse of the rule of law, where the rouges with heavy attillery, become the law.
The Marikana precedence is most regrettable.
Negotiating with rouges who masquerade as 'wild-cat-strikers' simply gives birth to more rouges. Each group of rouges would want to be seen to be worse than one group. So the killing of non-striking workers will increase, the police will be attacked and they will be lambasted and demoralised for heavy handedness, destruction of means of production will go on, and fire-brands who egg 'strikers' to fight to the death, will be given ill-gotten airtime.
Re-establishing the rule of law MUST be our first priority. No negotiations must be engaged with people who use violence. People who have destroyed property, murdered colleagues, attacked police - must be arrested and charged.
Our governement ministers and all in authority MUST respect the rule of law. Zuma's lawyer must give up the spy tapes because the court said so.
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candilious
@Robin haal my woorde uit myse bekReport Abuse
MommaC
ImpelaIts a tragic comedy.
A minister who actively encourages people to be unlawful, a police force who is worse than the criminals, a president who has no respect for the law and a labour union who plays both sides of the fence.
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RobinX
Die vroumens is so gevrek as wat kan kom. Dan sit sy met haar roos-lippies sooooeee en se net mooi f o k o l. 'n Nul op 'n kontrak, nes haar vriende.Report Abuse
RobinX
Tina: For a party token coloured your head is darem far up someone's rear.Report Abuse
Impela
@MommaCWe have many differences as Saffers but we all signed up for a Constitutional democracy - where the rule of law is the only common thing we share. That must be upheld for this democracy to survive.
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