It is a mistaken perception that retailers are responsible for the overwhelming job losses in the textile industry, retail group Foschini said on Monday.
”If anything, we have been creating even more employment opportunities — 2000 in the past two years alone — especially for small business and independent contractors,” said Ronnie Stein, financial director of the Foschini Group.
In a statement, Stein said many retailers such as Foschini already sourced over 70% of their goods locally.
He was responding to union threats to picket retailers who do not sign an agreement to stock their shops with a minimum of 75% locally manufactured goods.
The SA Clothing and Textile Workers Union (Sactwu), supported by the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) have threatened leading retailers Foschini, Woolworths, Edgars, Truworths, Pick ‘n Pay and others with pickets at their shops, unless they sign an agreement to buy local goods.
The unions aim to curb an influx of cheaper clothing, textile and footwear imports, particularly from China, which they say are crippling the textile industry and causing job losses.
However, Foschini said the ”whole backbone” of their industry was based on local manufacture.
Stein stressed that the company’s total imports make up just over one percent of the total estimated 400-million units currently being shipped in from the East.
”Clearly the problem of Chinese imports and the resultant crippling of the textile industry lies somewhere else. After all, we already do buy local. Why then, are we being targeted?” he asked. – Sapa