Forestry Employers want Govt to consider land leasing when deciding on new wages

Running a contracted business in the forestry sector became a focal point among Labour Department officials and employers in Mpumalanga during public hearings in the forestry sector focusing on wages and conditions of employment at the weekend.

The public hearings in the farm worker sector and forestry sector formed part of the Department’s ongoing engaging of employers and workers in these industries on the different sectoral determinations. The different wage regimes within the different determinations will lapse in 2009 and therefore it becomes essential that these determinations are reviewed timeously.

The densely-forested Mpumalanga province is one of the country’s leading producers of timber, with the majority of citizens earning their living through the sector.

During last weekend’s meeting, it became clear that most employers do not own but contract or sub-contract their businesses from owners of the plantations.

A popular submission was that while they understood the need for government to regularly review minimum wages and working conditions, they often found it difficult to off-load rising costs onto those from whom they lease the land.

On submissions with respect to wages, employers were unable to say what the wage increase in the current high inflationary climate should be. The workers, on the other hand almost unanimously cited the rocketing food prices and interest rates as the biggest factors government should consider when deciding on the new minimum wages.

The current wages for workers in the agricultural sector stands at R1090.00c monthly or R5.59c per hour. The farm workers sectoral determination was launched in 2002 and was again reviewed in 2005.

The current workshops and public hearings have already taken place in several parts of the country and are scheduled to continue until September, after which all the submissions will form the basis on which the Minister of Labour will make the new wage and employment conditions pronouncements.

The review also focuses on the plight of small farmers, minimum wages for the new entrants, task based work, annual increases, deduction and labour tenants.