It is ironic that the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (Sactwu) is fighting against the implementation of the same minimum wages that it helped to impose on the industry (“Union fights court bid to close clothing factories”, Business Report, July 5).
The penny has finally dropped that imposing minimum wages uniformly across an industry that is already struggling to compete with cheaper Asian imports will lead to the closure of factories.
The union “does not condone non-compliance” but shutting down 400 factories would be a “disaster”, it says. As the saying goes, you can’t have your cake and eat it.
- Lucy Holborn (Research Manager, SA Institute of Race Relations)
(To read the letter on the Independent Online website please click here.)
