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The Federation of Unions of South Africa (FEDUSA) has welcomed an above inflation wage settlement that has been secured by the National Union of Leather and Allied Workers (NULAW), the union federation’s affiliate in the footwear and leather industries.
 
On Tuesday, NULAW and the Southern African Footwear and Leather Industries Association (SAFLIA) concluded a three-year wage agreement for the footwear sector after only two rounds of negotiations at the National Bargaining Council of the Leather Industry of South Africa that will run from 1 July 2019 until 31 June 2022 and has been staggered as follows:
 
Year 1: 7.2% increase in wages and increase of 1-day holiday bonus provisions.
 
Year 2: 7.5% increase in wages.
 
Year 3: 7.5% increase in wages. The agreement will cover 8800 workers and 167 employers respectively; and on the same day Statistics South Africa announced that inflation had slowed down by a 0.5 percentage point from 4.5% in March 2019 to 4.4% in April 2019.
 
A process of aligning the Footwear Collective Agreement with the provisions of the Labour Relations Act and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act will also be started soon and is expected to be concluded by the end of June 2022.

The urgency and maturity with which both parties have approached these negotiations is greatly welcomed as it will bring much needed stability and certainty in a sector that is continuously under the onslaught of cheap Asian imports that often results in massive job losses, concluded FEDUSA Acting Secretary General Riefdah Ajam.
 
 

Issued by FEDUSA