ALMOST 600 workers on a fruit farm near Malelane in Mpumalanga have won a double battle after a two-week strike. For the first time, labourers on Laughing Waters farm will get gumboots, overalls and raincoats in a deal supported by the South African Agricultural Plantation and Allied Workers’ Union (Saapawu). They will also get pay increases above their basic rate of R10 a day. But the agreement does not mention providing protective gloves to farm workers, although spraying with insecticide is part of the job. It also stipulates that labourers employed for less than nine months will not get protective clothing at all. The pay rises also vary depending on how long each labourer has worked on the farm. Saapawu says such issues will still be addressed.