South African garment workers to receive pay hike from September

According to an agreement between garment makers and the Southern African Clothing & Textile Workers’ Union (SACTWU), South African garment workers will receive a pay hike from September 1, the industry's due date for annual wage increases.

This means that in metro areas like Durban, Cape Town, Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth, the wages of garment workers who are SACTWU members will increase by 7.4 percent and of those in non-metro areas by 10 percent.

The stakeholders agreed to the new wage rates at a regular meeting of the clothing industry bargaining council. The stage for this move was already set in mid-September last year, when garment employers signed a two-year wage agreement, which will be in effect from September 1.

“This wage agreement settlement means a substantial 309 million rands (approximately 25 million US dollars) cash injection into the South African economy, over the 12-month period commencing 1st September this year,” commented SACTWU general secretary Andre Kriel in a statement.

According to SACTWU, around 85,000 people working in the South African garment industry will benefit from this agreement.