Business Day
*Farm wage talks go 'back to square one'*** *Paul Vecchiatto, Business Day, Johannesburg, 6 December 2012*NEGOTIATIONS on wages for Western Cape farm workers have gone back to square one after unions agreed to engage directly with farmers.
Farm workers in the province embarked on an illegal strike on November 1, demanding that their daily wage be increased to R150 from the current R69. The strike was suspended a week ago but resumed on Tuesday then again suspended until January 9.
Only 4%-5% of the estimated 200,000 farm workers in the province are members of unions.
Farmer representative organisations such as Agri SA and Agri Wes-Cape do not negotiate wages as they are set by Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant.
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson said at a press conference in Parliament on Wednesday that wage negotiations would take place at farms affected by the strike. The sectoral wage determination process, to be facilitated by the Department of Labour, would continue, she said.
"We are now exactly back where we were when the strike first started. Employees have agreed to now talk directly with their employers --- which was not something they wanted to do in the first place," Western Cape agriculture MEC Gerrit van Rensburg said on Wednesday.
Department of Labour director-general Nkosinathi Nhleko said he was concerned that if workers not represented by trade unions negotiated outside of formal processes it would lead to another "Marikana situation".
Mr van Rensburg said this was unlikely as the agricultural sector was geographically spread out.
Ms Joemat-Pettersson called on both sides to work together to find a lasting solution. She encouraged people and organisations to donate food parcels to FoodBank SA for distribution to the farm workers this month.
Agri Wes-Cape spokeswoman Porchia Adams said she was surprised Ms Joemat-Pettersson had not contacted them about distributing food, saying: "She knows full well that we have social upliftment programmes and we have been distributing food to workers for years."
*From: http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/labour/2012/12/06/farm-wage-talks-go-back-to-square-one*
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