Farmers get wage relief

Rule on new minimum rates relaxed

CONTINUING drought could hit the pockets of farm workers who were due to get pay increases as pressure on the agricultural sector carries on.

Minimum wage increases came into effect on March 1, but, in an effort to prevent retrenchments, the Department of Labour has said farmers may apply incremental increases to avoid extra financial pressure.

Agri SA senior manager for labour relations Eliza van der Westhuizen said farmers would be able to increase wages by a certain percentage every few months over the next 12 months, until their workers received the new minimum wage.

The monthly minimum wage for farm workers was increased from R2 606.78 to R2 778.83.

Workers on weekly wages will receive an increase from R601.61 to R641.32.

Van der Westhuizen said: “In accordance with Article 50 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, farmers can negotiate with their workers or labour unions to determine a suitable incremental increase over the next 12 months.

“The farmer must then make a formal application to the Department of Labour, which will approve or turn down the proposed incremental increase.”

Agri SA labour and social policy committee chairman Hendrik Ackermann comed the decision.

“We recognise the importance of wages keeping up with rising food prices and living costs, but due to the drought we also realise that numerous farmers will not be able to afford the increases,” he said.

“We urge farmers to consult their workers, or their unions, and make use of the mechanisms put in place by Article 50, rather than re-

weltrench workers.” Van der Westhuizen said many farmers did not use the provisions of Article 50 for fear that applications would be denied or they would face the possibility of back pay being enforced.

“Approval after applying for relief in terms of Article 50 could take a few months,” Van der Westhuizen said.

“If farmers have already applied an incremental increase, and their application is turned down, they run the risk of having to repay workers the amount they held back, possibly dealing them a blow from which they will not recover.”

But Van der Westhuizen said applications were far more likely to succeed than in previous years.

Meanwhile, farmers fearing price increases because of exchange rates had bought more tractors last month than expected, the SA Agricultural Machinery Association (Saama) said yesterday.

It described the 713 sales as a surprise, but warned that sales were likely to drop because of the drought and exchange rates. – Additional reporting by BDLive