The last stumbling block to the proposed National Minimum Wage has been removed with the adoption of the proposal by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu).
The trade union’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) announced yesterday (Thursday) afternoon that it supported the National Minimum Wage and labour relations package. All other National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) Committee of Principals had agreed to the proposal by the beginning of the year, but Cosatu was awaiting response by its members.
“This endorsement represents the will of the working people of our country and enables the initiation of a public consultation process that will ultimately result in new legislation that will regulate the implementation of the National Minimum Wage by no later than May 2018,” deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa commented.
Government believes a national minimum wage will eliminate the need for strikes and hopes to see around 6.6 million workers earn a minimum wage of R3 500 per month (at R20 an hour for 40 hours a week or R3 900 per month for 45 hours a week).
But there are fears this could lead to job losses in the logistics and manufacturing sectors, particularly for small to medium enterprises.
The National Employers’ Association, quoting independent economic impact studies, is concerned that a national minimum wage agreement will put some jobs at risk – a sentiment shared by the Road Freight Association (RFA).
According to Magretia Brown-Engelbrecht, labour relations manager at the RFA, it doesn’t seem to take into account the different levels of businesses, which could impact the sustainability of a small- to medium-sized business and thus see more job losses.
