Reflecting on the DWIA journey: Nov 2016 - April 2018.

The Social Dialogue Platform for Decent Work in Agriculture (DWIA) recently held a well attended workshop in Paarl on the 12th and 13th of April. This was the seventh workshop in a series hosted by the platform which is convened by the Ethical Trading Initiative (UK), the Labour and Enterprise Research Unit at UCT and Phuhlisani NPC.

The latest workshop marks the close out of this phase of work to promote social dialogue as part of the decent work agenda. To date the programme has been funded by the Commonwealth Foundation. ETI and its partners are now looking for opportunities to take this important work forward.
Much of the journey to date has been recorded on the 4dialogue blog which has provided reports and resources linked to each of the seven workshops.

The initial workshop was held on 3 November 2016. This enabled a wide range of people involved in social dialogue initiatives to come together to share information and to explore the need for a platform to try and link, explore issues in common  and to add value to the various individual initiatives. Participants at this workshop proposed a number of ways in which social dialogue could be deepened in the fruit and wine sectors in the Western Cape. A range of shared issues and priorities were identified which included farmworker housing, access to services and tenure security as well as freedom of association and collective bargaining. The subsequent workshops in 2017 and early 2018 have focused on these two themes.

The second workshop in the series aimed to convene a reference groupmade up of individuals and organisations which would provide guidance and oversight of the platform activities. This initiative was not greatly successful, primarily as many individuals committing time to the process were already heavily committed. So the platform activities developed more organically and informally, guided by regular interactions with different groupings – standards bodies, producer associations, trade unions, NGOs and government officials.

The third workshop began to engage with the substantive issues associated with farmworker housing. The workshop drew on research undertaken by Phuhlisani NPC in partnership with the Cape Winelands District Municipality and the Laborie initiative. It also explored national developments with regard to the Phakisa programme which was developing a focus on a farmworker housing and land ownership programme.

It was at this workshop that it was agreed that there was a need for a document to be developed which could form the basis of a joint policy submission to government, given the findings of the research that currently there was no coherent policy on farmworker housing and its development on and off farms. Phuhlisani NPC was tasked with incorporating analysis and proposals emanating from the research and the workshop sessions to prepare a draft submission for further discussion and potential endorsement by the different stakeholders represented on the platform.

Workshops 4-6 focused on an area where little progress has been made – that of the promotion of freedom of association and the advancement of collective bargaining in the agricultural sector. Unlike the housing issue, representatives of producer bodies, employers, trade unions and NGOs started far apart from each other on this difficult and complex issue. In order to hear all the voices and to enable individuals to speak freely the DWIA platform organised workshops specifically for different stakeholder groupings.

Workshops with unions and NGOs focused extensively on how unions could overcome obtacles in order to secure access to workplaces on farms to organise workers. Unionists and NGO representatives at these workshops highlighted a range of attitudes and behaviours of employers and HR practitioners which they argued prevented them from accessing farms and engaging with workers. They highlighted widespread hostility to, and fear of union organisation by employers.

Workshops held with employers and producer associations highlighted the mixed range of responses to union activity in the agricultural sector. In some instances wortking relationships had been built with trade unions which had secured organising rights and some winecellars and fruit packhouses. However individual producers often articulated a reluctance to engage with unions – many of which were regarded as difficult to negotiate with due to their perceived militancy. Producers also cited trade union fragmentation in the sector and instances of competition between union bodies to capture the subscriptions of organised workers.  There was a widespread sense that many unions  failed to deliver tangible benefits to their membership. This prompted many employers to support the development of worker committees on farms.

In our seventh and final workshop in the series we brought all the parties together to reflect on the journey and identify practical interventions to address key issues. Participants discussed and provided in principle endorsement of a draft housing policy submission. Participants reviewed the findings of research conducted by LEP investigating good practice around freedom of Association and collective bargaining. They met together to identify practical steps which could be taken to advance freedom of Association and to enable the strengthening of worker organisation and voice on farms and workplaces within the fruit and wine value chains. A list of undertakings is available in the workshop record of discussion.

To ensure that this work remains publicy available we have now assembled a repository providing one-stop access to all the resources and presentations made throughout the workshop series. These include full records of discussion for each workshop. You can access the repository here and click on any card within the repository to view and download resources.

If you have participated in the process and want to comment on progress and make proposals to improve impact going forward please complete the short survey here.

ETI, LEP and Phuhlisani thanks everyone for their generous contributions to the process. Watch this space to hear how things will be taken forward.

Social dialogue: the state of play - Two day workshop 12- 13 April

The Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), The Labour and Enterprise Policy Research Group (LEP) from the University of Cape Town and Phuhlisani NPC are hosting a two-day workshop on 12th and 13th April 2018 at the Mount Roche Hotel in Paarl.

Workshop objectives

• To bring together a wide range of actors to assess progress of social dialogue initiatives in advancing decent work in the Western Cape’s fruit and wine sectors
• To discuss a joint draft policy submission on farm worker housing highlighting key problems and proposing practical solutions
• To review the findings from research commissioned by ETI into Good Practices Advancing Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining in the agricultural sector
• To discuss how Freedom of Association can be enhanced at farm level
• To share perspectives on what’s working and what needs to change
• To identify priorities to shape the decent work agenda going forward.

Event participants

This two-day workshop aims to bring together a wide range of actors including:

• Agricultural associations, employers’ associations and farmers
• Civil society organisations and NGOs
• Trade unions
• Government bodies
• Academia
• Retailers
• Other leading practitioners and experts; both in South Africa and internationally.

Programme outline

 The key programme focus for the two days is summarized below.

Day 1: Thursday 12​th​ April 2018

Social Dialogue: The state of play

• Overview and update on the Decent Work in Agriculture social dialogue platform, updates from a range of current initiatives in the Western Cape.
• Social Dialogue for improved farmworker housing
• Updates on the progress of the Phakisa farm worker housing and land ownership programme.
• Review of a draft policy submission on farm worker housing, tenure security and access to services.

Day 2: Friday 13th April 2018

• Lessons from good practice case studies: Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining
• Presentation on the findings from a recent study on freedom of association on farms, cellars and pack houses.
• Lessons learnt from the findings.
• Sharing perspectives from workshops on Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining held with civil society organizations, trade unions, employer and industry bodies
• Where do we stand?
• Where is the common ground?
• What needs to change?
• Evaluation of the Decent Work in Agriculture social dialogue platform to date
• What has worked and what has not?
• Should this platform be continued? 
• If so, what are the next steps?
• How can a future DWiA be better capacitated/enabled?
• Who else should be included in DWiA?

Fixing farm worker housing - a draft policy submission

The Social Platform  for Decent Work in Agriculture (DWIA) was established  to record, connect and amplify the impacts of social dialogue initiatives (SDI) within the fruit and wine value chains of the agricultural sector in the Western Cape.

Various SDIs have been set up with the broad aim of improving living and working conditions on farms and pack houses.

The Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) has partnered with the Labour and Enterprise Policy Research Unit (LEP) at UCT and Phuhlisani NPC to facilitate linkages between diverse SDIs and explore issues of common interest between them.
Farm worker housing, access to services and tenure security have emerged as key focus areas. Certain SDIs, such as the Laborie Initiative have commissioned research on this topic.  DWIA workshops were also held during 2017 to discuss what could be done in this area.
It was agreed that organisations contributing to the DWIA initiative would contribute to the preparation of a policy brief and discuss a joint submission to government.

Why is there a new for policy review?

• Farmworkers have been poorly served by housing policy:
• The setting of standards for farm worker housing on farms remains fragmented and inadequate.
• On-farm hostels for seasonal workers remain largely unregulated.
• Responsibilities for oversight and compliance with existing standards remain unclear and poorly capacitated
• In practice, farmworkers’ access to housing on farms remains conditional on their employment. Losing a job is often a prelude to eviction and homelessness.
• The pattern of casualisation and externalisation of labour, which has come to characterise labour intensive sub sectors within the agricultural industry, is displacing workers off farm.
• Many displaced workers have no alternative but to enter informal settlements in small rural towns where local municipalities are already struggling to address housing and service backlogs.
• The overwhelming majority of farmworkers are not registered on the housing demand database which is required to be eligible for a housing subsidy.
• Apartheid era subsidies and tax incentives designed to encourage owners to invest in improved living conditions and social infrastructure on farms were withdrawn without effective alternatives being introduced.
• The Farm Residents Subsidy introduced as part of the National Housing Code has failed to attract a single subsidy application.
• The status of  the proposed farm worker house and land ownership programme put forward under the Operation Phakisa initiative remains unclear.
• There is currently no coherent national policy on farm worker housing.

Make your voices heard

You can view a four pager and comment on a longer policy submission. Access the folder here

This draft submission wiull be discussed at the DWiA workshop in Paarl on 12 and 13 April 2018

Stategies to counter the impacts of the drought

Writing in the Conversation Peter Johnston - a climate scientist and researcher at UCT  who explores the potential impacts of the drought on agriculture in the Western Cape. He draws on studies of Australia's Millenium drought and its social and economic impacts, observing the key difference between the two countries - South Africa's reliance on thousands of seasonal workers:

Seasonal workers in South Africa usually settle in the production area, often in informal settlements. Their earnings result from work during the harvest period which stretches from between one month to three. In many cases the earning period must sustain them for the rest of the year. Whole families are dependent on this income and any job losses can have a severe impact

Johnstone notes that:

So far the damage to trees and vines in the Cape has been limited. While the horticulture industry will suffer economic losses, the industry will recover, if not immediately, then over a few seasons if water for irrigation is restored by next September. It is, however, too soon to say what the long term impact will be in terms of soil quality, farmer confidence and water allocations.

It is clear that we need strategies to better manage and allocate water. However the impact of the drought on employment and the social impacts on thousands of families dependent on seasonal work for their income needs closer attention.

Wage increases in the agricultural sector: Views of organised agriculture and worker organisations

Wages are set to rise in the agricultural sector through phased increases:

• As from 1 March 2018 the agricultural sector will pay 15.39 per hour following an 8% increase in the minimum wage announced by the Minister of Labour
• From 1 May 2018 the national minimum wage of R20.00 per hour kicks in. However the agricultural sector has an initial special dispensation to pay R18/hour or 90% of the agreed minimum wage.
• Farmers who provide evidence that they cannot afford the increase can apply for a Section 50 variation which if granted remains valid for a year.

What will this mean for different actors in the sector?

AgriSA's perspective was recently spelt out by the Head of Labour and Development  Jahni de Villiers in an article published in the Huffington Post. In January De Villiers argued that:

• The agricultural sector has shed 109,000 jobs in 2017 and was 71,000 jobs down from the same quarter in 2016.
• The final research findings National Minimum Wage Commission published in 2016 indicates that 200 000 jobs were lost as a consequence of the first implementation of a minimu wage through the sectoral determination.
• Given the labour shedding response to the initial setting of minimum wages noted above, it is "a fair assumption" that further job lossses will follow a 17% increase in the minimum wage in 2018 and that layoffs or  will be aggravated by the severe drought in the Western Cape.
• AgriSA points to the need for "community development, including farmworker housing and farmworker enterprise development, and entrepreneurial development" However at the same time it notes that in the Western Cape only 8.5% of farmworkers have finished school and less than 1% have any tertiary education. 

Union responses remain critical although detailed statements are hard to find. No press statements have been possted on the Food and Allied Workers Union (FAWU) website since 28 July 2017. On their Facebook page FAWU reports that it has been campaigning for R5700/ month as a minimum wage and that "nobody can live on R20.00/ hour".

The Commercial, Stevedore, Agricultural and Allied Workers Union (CSAAWU) has a Twitter account which has been inactive since March 2015. The link to the organisation's website is dead. An article in Ground-Up reports CSAAWU's  response to the first phase wage increase:

“For CSAAWU the new recommendations from the Department are not only a slap in the face of farm workers, but an indication too that government has still not grasped the severity of the crisis of poverty facing rural workers. This new wage recommendation is a direct impoverishment of farm workers.”

CSAAWU is affiliated to the South African Federation of Trade Unions SAFTU which in December  2017 urged parliament to reject the National Minimum Wage Bill arguing that a minimum wage of 3500/month is pegged some R625 below the poverty line.

This rapid scan of responses show that representatives of the agricultural industry and worker organisations remain far apart. Organised agriculture has concerns about the afforability of wage increases particularly in a time of intense drought. Organised labour remains concerned about what constitutes a living wage which will lift workers out of poverty. The impact of wage increases on employment in the sector and the net impacts on poverty and vulnerability will need to be the focus of ongoing research.

Producer perspectives on creating an enabling environment for freedom of association and collective bargaining on farms

 Social Dialogue Platform for Decent Work in Agriculture

Creating an enabling environment for freedom of association and collective bargaining on farms 

Tuesday 27th February, 08:30-13:30

Venue: Pontac Manor, Paarl

https://goo.gl/maps/KWgBpjUQwiD2

Workshop objective

●     To explore perspectives of employers, commodity organisations and standards bodies on what can be done to create and expand an enabling environment to promote freedom of association and collective bargaining consistent with current legislation, sector standards and codes.

Draft programme

The programme may change to reflect participant feedback.

8:30	Registration and coffee
9:00	Welcome, introductions and expectations Session overview	Dr Rick de Satgé Phuhlisani NPC
9:15	The Social Dialogue Platform for Decent Work in Agriculture - a quick overview ●        Why are freedom of association and collective bargaining important for ETI?	Hannah Bruce ETI
9:30	A research informed conversation: Enabling freedom of association, collective bargaining and union access to farms ●        Sector research by the Labour and Enterprise Research Group for ETI ○        An overview of the research brief ○        Methodology ○        Early trends ○        Researcher questions and issues ○        Report release date and presentation	Dr Shane Godfrey and Mario Jacobs LEP
10: 00	Questions and discussion
10:20	Responses of employers and standards bodies to online questionnaire on freedom of association and union access to farms	Dr Rick de Satgé
11:00	Questions and discussion
11:15	Tea break
11:30	What needs to change to create an enabling environment to advance FOA and the right to bargain collectively  as per Section 4 of the WIETA Code, Section 5 of the SIZA standard and underlying labour law together with Section 3.4 of the Fairtrade Hired Labour Standard ●        What do employers need to do differently? ●        What do unions and NGOs need to do differently? ●        What are current good practices that we can learn from? ●        How can existing social dialogue initiatives eg Value Chain Roundtables help create an enabling environment?	Facilitated break away sessions
12:15	Plenary Sessions to report back discussions from breakaways and discuss proposals	TBA
12.45	Next steps ●        A joint session in 5 - 6 April which will include: ○        Institutional updates on social dialogue progress in the fruit and wine sectors ■         Individual reports ■         Good practice cases ○        Presentation of LEP research findings on FOA and CB ○        All party conversation of FOA and CB ○        Discussion of draft farm worker housing policy submission	Dr Rick de Satge
1:00	Lunch

If there are particular issues you would like to have discussed at this session please send your suggestions to rick@phuhlisani.org.za

Examining labour conditions of women farm workers in the Western and Northern Cape

A mixed methods research study prepared for Women on Farms Project (WFP) by Stephen Devereux, Glenise Levendal and Enya Yde sets out to identify "the nature of non-compliance and labour rights violations on farms in the Western and Northern Cape". The research findings draw on 343 questionnaires and combined quantitative, qualitative and participatory research methods. Of these 201 women were interviewed in the Western Cape (Paarl, Wellington, De Doorns, Wolseley, Rawsonville, Stellenbosch and Klapmuts)  and 142 were interviewed across 11 sites in the Northern Cape including Keimoes, Louisvale, Augrabies and Alheit.

The study which was first released in August 2017 is currently being updated according to the Women of Farms website 

The original report finds that:

• 39% of the women interviewed in the sample reported that they had not signed an employment contract
• 75% of seasonal workers reported that they were not paid the legal minimum wage 
• 33% of women interviewed worked against daily targets of which two in five workers found to be unachieveable. How these targets are set and approved appears unclear.
• 72% of workers reported that they did not have access to a toilet while working in the vineyards
• 62% reported that they lose a day's pay if they go to a health clinic
• 69% reported exposure to pesticides wuthin an hour of spraying.
• Only 12% of the sample reported being members of trade unions and many respondents reported that they had "never heard of trade unions or did not know that they exist for farm workers" Others reported that they had become disillusioned with unions and had left.
• 24% of workers interviewied kniew about WIETA and 18% Fair Trade which the report argues is "indicative of their weak penetration in the wine sector and perhaps their limited effectivity".

The study highlights concerns about union access to workers and inadequate enforcement of labour legislation. The report recommends that existing labour laws should be strengthened and amended in order to better protect and advance the rights of farm workers, especially seasonal women workers.

• The Sectoral Determination should include guidelines in line with the Employment Equity Act, to eradicate gender discrimination in job allocation, hours of work, housing, etc. 
• The Sectoral Determination should protect farm workers against unlawful gratuitous deductions. 
• The Sectoral Determination must clearly define and regulate the use of work targets on farms.
• The Sectoral Determination must state that seasonal workers who have worked on a farm for the season, have an automatic guaranteed right to employment on that farm in the next season. 
• The LRA amendment that gives permanent status to temporary workers who work continuously for three months must be applied equally to farmworkers, despite the seasonality of their work. 
• In keeping with the constitutional right to family life, ESTA legislation on tenure security should explicitly prohibit farmers from charging extra rent for children over the age of 18. 
• Legislative amendments are needed to provide better protection to migrant workers. 

According to the report:

The research indicates that there is widespread violation of laws that were introduced to protect and advance the rights of farm workers. Ranging from farmers still not paying the minimum wage to not providing toilets and clean water in the vineyards to not providing workers exposed to pesticides with protective clothes to preventing workers’ rights of association, farmers are systematically flouting labour laws. Farmers are also adept at identifying and abusing any caveats in the law – for example, introducing targets in order to avoid paying the legal minimum wage. 

The 4Dialogue team will seek to publish responses to this report from different actors active on the Social Dialogue Platform for Decent Work in Agriculture.

Improving working conditions in the Kenyan flower industry - Lessons on Valentine's Day

An insightful article in today's issue of The Conversation by Lara Bianchi from the University of Manchester examines how conditions in the fast growing Kenyan flower industry have slowly improved for its predominantly female work force. As noted by Bianchi this has not been an easy journey: 

At the outset women faced systemic inequalities which made them vulnerable workers. These included poor labour conditions, the violation of health and safety rules and sexual harassment. The product upgrading, along with concerted campaigns by human rights activists, NGOs, trade unions and the buy-in of business led to a sea change in the women’s working conditions.
The reforms show that when a broad range of stakeholders come together substantive changes can be made in favour of vulnerable women workers. In line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, big corporations can be transformative in contributing to social justice for women workers. In a collaborative effort, the business community has a great opportunity to step in and lead the change.

In global labour markets characterised by casualisation and extenalisiation  many Kenyan flower producers now employ workers in the industry on permanent contracts and removed obstacles to women joining unions. This involved a concerted campaign to improve conditions in the industry which has important lessons for agribusiness in South Africa.

Bianchi reports that

The range of actors involved in the campaign brought a raft of changes across the industry. Sound gender policies on workers’ rights, training, promotion and grievance procedures were introduced. Social auditing involving local NGOs, trade unions and human rights organisations helped identify specific issues facing women workers on particular farms.
Thanks to specific gender policies on workers’ rights and grievance programmes, as well as to a decisive product upgrading, many Kenyan flower growers underwent a crucial switch from temporary to permanent contracts. This meant that women workers were now members of the unions, thus giving them access to another main channel to grievance and remedy.

Read the full story in The Conversation 

Impacts of the drought on employment in Western Cape - 50 000 out of work soon?

In a recent article in Business Day Agri-Western Cape CEO Carl Opperman is quoted as stating that Western Cape farmers have recorded 14 billion in losses as a result of  back to back droughts. The article forecasts that "an estimated 50 000 people could be out of work soon". According to Opperman the employment losses would primarily be experienced  by seasonal workers who would  either be employed for fewer months, or who might not find work at all.

The drought has forced officials to impose strict water restrictions, and the agricultural sector, which is the largest consumer of water, has had its supply curtailed by between 60% and 87%, Opperman said:"Both the fruit and vegetable industries have been hard hit by the drought and water restrictions. In the Ceres area, for example, the limited water supply resulted in 50% less onions and 80% less potatoes being planted this season. This impacts on food production and wage losses of millions of rand for seasonal workers."

Photo: Ashraf Hendricks: Ground Up

Similar concerns were also reported in October 2017 by provincial CoGTA which highlighted the risk of "civil unrest" as an estimated R40 million rand in agricultural workers wages had been lost as farmers cut back on new planting and harvests fell. 

How will the drought impact on advancing a joint programme for decent work in the agricultural sector?  

Potentially the imapcts are enormous as producers and workers experience hard times. Putting such a programme in place requires that producers, workers organisations, state and civil society organisations remain in productive conversation to improve conditions on farms. The drought and projected layoffs risk placing these relationships under intense strain and raise the level of conflict risk in the sector.

Can the drought present an opportunity?

Despite the risks identified above these diificult times can also be regarded as an opportunity to intensify and deepen  multilateral conversations. Not everyone has subscribed to doomsday scenarios. Patrick Dowling highlights that:

"Realising that world‚ national and local leaders can do only so much‚ people have started working co-operatively and innovatively. There are domestic‚ street and faith-based responses‚ workplace plans and initiatives to support frail and vulnerable. As people work together‚ mesh talents and develop trust more dots are joined‚ giving issues of sustainability and co-operative solutions new meaning and practical application".

These initiatives need to integrated into the agricultural landscape. There are are many things this protracted drought can teach us. It will be important for producer bodies and the provincial department of agriculture to communicate clear and reliable information about the impacts of the drought and to project how these impacts could play out for different commodities and in particular localities.

A wide range of actors need this information so that joint responses can be developed,  solutions found, implemented and monitored. Hard times should provide the cue to open up spaces for dialogue and communciation rather than closing them down.

Freedom of Association: From theory to practice

This is an edited version of a longer article researched and written by Anela Feleza- while working as an intern at Phuhlisani NPC. The article draws on the record of discussion from a series of workshops run as part of the Decent Work in Agriculture (DWiA) programme to explore the ways in which freedom of association and collective bargaining can be advanced by sectoral codes regulating good practice in the agricultural sector.

Introduction

Following South Africa’s democratic transition in 1994 new laws and state-institutions were developed in a bid to reverse our deeply ingrained history of racial discrimination and worker exploitation. Up until the early 1990’s workers on farms remained unprotected by any form of labour law. Employment contracts were governed by common law which also allowed employers to retrench and evict workers at will. While new laws and private sector producer codes have sought to protect vulnerable workers from exploitation and ensure decent work in the agricultural sector, there remain concerns about the extent to which these protections have been implemented to improve the living and working conditions of farm workers and dwellers. While freedom of association is constitutionally guaranteed many constraints remain which limit trade union access to workers on farms and the restrict potential for collective bargaining in the sector.

FOA in theory 

What is Freedom of Association?

“In the workplace, the right to freedom of association is a right which entitles workers to form and join workers’ organisations of their own choice in order to promote common organisational interests”.

Why is it important?

Workers’ rights and employment practices are regulated by s 18 and s23 of the Constitution and labour laws promulgated to ensure the protection of constitutional provisions contained in the Bill of Rights.

Freedom of association is crucial for the realisation of provisions contained in labour law as it gives workers the right to organise and to join trade unions which represent workers to negotiate improved working conditions, resolve labour disputes and enter into collective bargaining agreements. Labour laws also protect those who choose not to form part of any associations or groups.

The right to the freedom of association is also important because it underpins the founding principles of a free and open democratic society, which are contained in the Constitution’s founding provisions. It also conforms to standards set by international human rights law on the humane treatment of workers in their respective workplace environments. International organisations such as the International Labour Organisation (ILO) recognise the importance of the freedom of association and are involved in creating global standards that help to ensure ethical trade at the international level.

What does South African law say?

S18 of the Constitution guarantees that: “Everyone has the right to freedom of association”. Section 23 of the constitution outlines specific rights of workers and employers to form unions and associations and to engage in collective bargaining as regulated by national legislation.





The Labour Relations Act (LRA) seeks to enact these constitutional provisions to specifically address what are considered to be fair and unfair labour practices.

Building on these provisions, the Basic Conditions of Employment Amendment Act, further elaborates the rights and duties of employees and employers, and sets out procedures regulating leave, working hours, remuneration, dismissals etc.

These legislative provisions however, all stem from s18 and s23 of the constitution.

How do the ethical trade and sectoral codes try to promote FOA?

A series of sector codes have also been developed to better facilitate, ensure and audit agreed standards regulating ethical trade practices within the agricultural sector. These also address the rights of workers to freedom of association. The table below compares how the different codes place duties on employers to provide workers with information on their rights to freedom of association.

Ethical Trade Initiative(ETI)	Wine and Agricultural Ethical Trade Association (WIETA)	Sustainability Initiative of South Africa (SIZA)
Information regarding the rights of workers and their rights freedom of association must be displayed in the workplace noticeboard. The information must be translated in the appropriate languages.	Information must be displayed in workplace. a) display rights-related information; The code requires workplaces with unionised workers (where shop-stewards have been elected in accordance with the LRA) to: b) display shop steward contact details in a location easily accessible by workers.	Information must be displayed in workplace. Employers must submit evidence of the placement of such information on notice boards in a region accessible to workers. Employers are required  to provide attendance registers and workshop content, where workers attended a training session on their right to freedom of association.

FOA in practice

So if the constitution, legislation and private codes provide various avenues for promoting workers’ rights to the freedom of association we have to ask why this right has yet to be realised for so many workers in the agricultural sector?

What makes freedom of association difficult to achieve?

If workers are to practically exercise their right to freedom of association they need to be able to meet together and with representatives of worker unions. The difficulty in this regard is that a significant proportion of the permanent agricultural labour force live on farms and are best accessed through their workplaces – both of which are on property owned by their employers.

Industry perspectives

Organisations representing employers in the agricultural sector raise concerns which often make them unwilling to practically promote FOA.

Security concerns

The rights of property owners are constitutionally protected in Section 25 of the constitution. This enables employers to limit access to their property if they deem that this poses a security threat to their person or property. Ultimately, this results in a clash between the rights of the workers to freedom of association and the rights of the employer in relation to their property.

In 2001 in a context of concerns about mounting crime and violence on farms, AgriSA negotiated a farm access protocol which severely restricted outsider access to farms. With regard to FOA the protocol limits worker organisers to meeting workers off farms permitting direct farm access only in “highly exceptional circumstances”.

Concerns that unions will disrupt production

Where workers’ unions and employers are unable to agree on wages and working conditions unions may direct their members to ‘down tools’ and engage in strike action to bring pressure on the employer to settle the dispute. While workers have the right to strike and peacefully protest, this has costly consequences for employers when they do – particularly when workplace disputes are declared at critical points on the agricultural calendar such as planting or harvest times.

As a result many employers have encouraged the formation of farm based worker committees to provide a forum for employer and worker interaction. Employers may argue that these committees are more effective than trade unions which they regard as having failed to adequately organise and represent workers and which require that workers pay membership fees.

In combination these factors make many employers reluctant to promote FOA which in turn makes it difficult for union representatives to meet with and organise workers on farms.

Union perspectives

Trade unions highlight the challenges of organising in the agricultural sector. Key constraints include::

Lack of access to farms makes it difficult for unions to achieve sufficient representation to negotiate on behalf of workers

Employers are required by law to grant organisational rights to unions which reflect the level of union representation in the workplace. This can vary from ‘sufficient representation’ where union membership constitutes less than 50% of the total number of employees, or where unions are recognised based on their representing the majority of the workforce. However both sufficient and majority representation remain difficult for union organisers to achieve as:

• Employers restrict access to farms citing the provisions of the farm access protocol. 
• Many farms are remote and union organisers lack resources to travel. 
• Lack of union information on the sector codes/ skepticism about their value 
• Many union organisers state that they lack information about how the industry codes can practically promote and advance FOA for farm workers. 
• Others remain skeptical about the value of the codes as a mechanism to advance worker rights and interests. 

Lack of resources to access farm data 

Bodies seeking to promote ethical and environmentally sustainable trade through audited standards collect information on the agricultural enterprises which make up their membership. This includes data on workers employed on the farm. Union organisers report that they are required to pay a fee to register on these platforms and gain access to this data - a cost which some unions find difficult to meet.

Contestation between registered and unregistered unions

Section 96(1) of the LRA requires that trade unions must be registered. Unions seeking registration with the Department of Labour are required to provide details of office bearers and union employees, the number of paid up members in each industry or sector and the contact information for the union. While the LRA does not prescribe any membership threshold which unions need to meet in order to register, guidelines issued in terms of the Act indicate that an extremely small membership may indicate that the organisation is not a genuine union.

Some organisers for registered trade unions indicate that their efforts to recruit workers can be thwarted by fraudulent and unregistered organisations posing as unions to collect membership fees from workers. They indicate that these bogus unions have amplified worker distrust of unions in general.

Worker perspectives

Some workers fear that they may be victimized for affiliation or association with trade unions which could threaten their livelihood. Some workers report negative experiences of being exploited by fraudulent unions operating in the sector. This has created an issue of mistrust of those who claim to be union representatives, when unions seek to recruit members and represent their concerns in disputes regarding their employment. Continuing union competition within the agricultural sector makes it difficult for workers to decide which union would be best suited to represent them and their rights.

What needs to change?

If FOA and collective bargaining are to become a reality in the agricultural sector:

• Legal provisions to promote freedom of association need to be better enforced and monitored 
• Greater consistency should be achieved across sector specific codes: 
• The way in which sector-specific codes are drafted can create disproportionate protections for workers across the agricultural sector. Different codes have varied levels of strictness and compliance. Some codes impose more responsibility on employers to communicate information about freedom of association to workers. 
• This effectively means that there is a lack of uniformity across the agricultural sectors in relation to which workers are better informed and assisted in the realisation of their right to the Freedom of Association. 

• More emphasis be placed on worker education on socio-economic and labour rights 
• Many farmworkers have had inadequate access to basic education, which can make the display of information as required by the codes difficult for these workers to comprehend. 
• Codes need to make practical provisions for workers to obtain accessible information about the intricacies of the code and how freedom of association can be practically realised on the practical level is paramount. If there are no unions present and effective on farms, responsibility for providing this information rests solely on the employer, and in their workplace. 

Negotiating a union access protocol as part of the sector codes

Sections contained in the LRA grant unions the right to access the work premises of employees for union-related purposes. This, however, is conditional on the basis of a variety of factors (union registration, etc.) and is subject to being facilitated through a mutually agreed process between employers and representatives.

Currently employers continue to deny union access to farms citing security concerns and the conditions of the Farm Access Protocol to restrict access. This suggests that within particular sector codes, or as part of value chain roundtables there is potential for developing mutually agreed processes which will facilitate union access to farms and promote the right of freedom of association.