The Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (SACTWU), affiliated with Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), has settled its 2021-2022 wage negotiations in the nonwoven textile sub-sector to secure a 5.5 per cent wage hike for its members. The backdated agreement is effective for a 12-month period until June 30, 2022.

The new collective agreement was concluded under the auspices of the National Textile Bargaining Council with employers represented by the National Textile Manufacturers’ Association (NTMA), SACTWU said in a press release.

The agreement also includes improvement in a long service award, which increases from R1 per week for each year of continuous service to R1.50 per week for each completed year of continuous service. This also came into effect from July 1, 2021.

SACTWU has also reached an agreement with its employer counterparts that all shop stewards of the trade union shall be granted reasonable access to Information & Communication Technology (ICT) facilities in the workplace for their trade union communication activities. This is expected to facilitate better execution of their trade union duties during COVID-19.