The new minimum wage of R1 090 a month for farm workers is welcome but inadequate, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) said on Saturday.
”The Congress of South African Trade Union welcomes the sectoral determination that has raised the minimum wage for farm workers, inadequate though it is,” Cosatu said.
”The challenge now, as always, is to force the employers to comply. Far too often farmers simply ignore such laws or circumvent them by making illegal deductions from wages or imposing charges on workers, which leave the workers no better, or even worse off than before.”
Cosatu’s affiliate, the Food and Allied Workers Union, is planning to hold a seminar on March 14 to 16 to strategise on ways to protect farm workers’ rights. – Sapa