CCMA offers help in Western Cape strike
2013-01-12 22:19
Cape Town - The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and
Arbitration has offered to intervene in the strike by farmworkers in the
Western Cape over wage increases.
"We have the authority to intervene, and the skills and
experience to mediate a solution," executive director Nerine Kahn said on
Saturday.
"We have offered our services - which we are empowered
to do in matters of public interest - and trust that the parties will respond
positively to our offer."
The CCMA said they were in a position to mediate a binding
short-term agreement while the parties wait for a sectoral wage determination
by the labour department.
Farmworkers in De Doorns in the Western Cape want their
minimum R69 daily wage increased to R150. The strike began on 27 August last
year, and was called off on December 4 and resumed on Wednesday.
Situation calm
Police spokesperson Warrant Officer November Filander said
the situation in De Doorns had calmed down after a hijacking on Saturday
morning.
"At 06:00 [Saturday] three suspects hijacked a truck
while the driver was waiting for farmworkers he had to pick up," Filander
said.
"They took the truck to the Stofland informal
settlement where they petrol bombed the truck which burned out totally. No one
was injured and no arrests were made."
The men were wearing balaclavas. Filander said police were
monitoring the area.
The public hearings review relating to the farmworkers
dispute is expected to start next week for revisions from 1 April.
"If we can reach a collective agreement soon, it will
not only begin to restore calm and ensure workers can go back to work,"
Kahn said.
"It [the agreement] could also form the basis for a
recommendation to the Minister of Labour and the Employment Conditions
Commission."
Kahn called on organised business and labour to consider
their offer to use the mediation services.
"We believe the interests of employers, workers and
farming communities will be best served through a mediated and negotiated
outcome."
Compromise
On Friday, the Western Cape Congress of SA Trade Unions
(Cosatu) said town-by-town discussions with farmers in the province were
progressing well.
Cosatu provincial secretary Tony Ehrenreich said workers
were willing to compromise to around R110 per day.
The individual farmers agreed to a meeting organised by Cape
Orchards Company chairman Gerhard de Kock. The company represents 12 farms in
the De Doorns Hex River Valley, which together produce approximately three
million boxes of table grapes a year.
- SAPA
