adminWhat worries the workers more is that there is a two-year moratorium on salary increase, which was imposed by the employers.
In an interview on the sidelines of the Sadc consensus building workshop on the development of Employment and Labour Policies and Strategies in Victoria Falls yesterday, ZCTU first vice-secretary-general Mr Gideon Shoko said the wage structure in the textile industry was disappointing.
“We are saddened by what is happening in the textile industry because we have realised that the workers are only getting US$150 per month yet the poverty datum line is at US$502 and is rising,” said Mr Shoko.
“While other sectors are busy in consultations with their employers with the hope of getting salary increments, the situation is different in the textiles industry since there is a two-year moratorium.”
Mr Shoko said there was a need to review the salaries, adding that it was possible under section 74 of the Labour Act.
“There is a leeway that can be used to appeal this decision so that the employees can renegotiate for salary increases,” he said.
However, the Employers Confederation of Zimbabwe chief executive officer, Mr John Mafukare, said it was better to retain workers and then start new initiatives that would see salary increments than letting the industry shut down.
Mr Mafukare said as Emcoz, they believed in capacity utilisation of all industries and employment creation rather than shutting down the industries and retrenching workers.
“It is better for the employees to get the US$150 per month instead of receiving nothing,” he said, adding that companies would be forced to shut down in the event of any salary increase.
“While it is not fair that I speak for the textile industry, I think we need to protect it because it has been swamped by textiles from Taiwan and other countries making it not viable if salaries are blown.”
Mr Mafukare noted that it was vital that the country increased employment opportunities rather than peg unrealistic salaries he said were not viable.
“It has been reported that the industry utilisation has grown by 13 percent but where is that growth when we know the retrenchment board approved the retrenchment of about 1 700 employees as of October.
“We do not want a jobless growth but rather it is better to pay less and create more employment,” said Mr Mafukare.
The importation of textiles, which started taking its toll on the once vibrant industry in the early 1990s when cheap fabric from Mozambique flooded the local market, has accelerated since the liberalisation of the country’s economy in February.
Most industry players are now on the brink of collapse after failing to withstand the heat from cheap imports.
Meanwhile, addressing the meeting Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) international secretary, Mr Bongani Masuku, said the Sadc region had itself to blame for not controlling the market price of minerals exploited by foreign companies.
He said Arab countries formed the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and were controlling the oil price much to be benefit of their economies.
“Look at Zimbabwe and all the other Sadc countries, we have abundant minerals but the prices are set in London. We should be determining mineral prices and also value addition to create employment and avert poverty for our people,” said Mr Masuku.
Londile Moyo
Online Reporter