South African trade union research study: A research opportunity

ETI is seeking a consultant/organisation to conduct an interesting piece of research on South African trade unions in the agriculture sector. The objective of this research is to understand what factors can contribute towards the success of freedom of association, collective bargaining and effective grievance handling. The aim of this understanding is to encourage the wider adoption of identified good practices, across the industry, and demonstrate the business benefits.
You can access the TOR here

Estimating the wage and employment effects of the 52% increase in the minimum wage in 2013

A new paper by Vimal Ranchhod and Ihsaan Bassier associated with the Research Project on Employment, Income Distribution and Inclusive Growth is based at SALDRU at the University of Cape Town reviews the effects of the minimum wage increase on the income and employment of farm workers.
The paper finds that  find that the sectoral determination had a substantial effect on the earnings of farmworkers who remained employed after the law came into effect, but that there was also a small and gradual decrease in agricultural employment. Evidence suggests "an increase in mean income per month of 17.9% about a year after the law came into effect. However this coincided with a mean decrease in adult employment by this industry of about 8.2% over the same time period". The paper notes however that attributing causality for the decrease in employment is statististically challenging.

The paper observes that

In South Africa, agriculture has historically accounted for a substantial amount of employment of relatively low skilled workers. This continues to be the case, but over the past three decades agriculture has become increasingly commercialized and mechanized, while agricultural output is increasingly being sold in highly competitive global markets. At least to some extent, these factors may explain why the long run trend in agricultural employment has been negative. An interesting and difficult policy question arises as to how a government might protect workers’ well-being in such an environment, where agricultural workers have amongst the lowest mean wages in the economy. In particular, is it possible to maintain both wages and employment in agriculture as the sector evolves in response to global pressures?

You can access the paper here

Reference:
Ranchhod, V. and I. Bassier (2017). Estimating the wage and employment effects of a large increase in South Africa’s agricultural minimum wage, REDI3x3.

Phakisa farm worker house and land ownership programme

The Phakisa Initiative has proposed a farm worker house and land ownership programme. A summary of the proposals appears below. Download the document from the link at the end of the article.

Farm worker housing and settlement workshop report

The social dialogue platform for decent work in agriculture (DWIA) held a workshop on farmworker housing and settlement  at STIAS in Stellenbosch on 26 July. The workshop was attended by representatives from:

·         ABRC Consulting

·         Agricultural Broad Base and Allied National Trade Union (ABANTU)

·         Association for Fairness in trade (AFIT)

·         Cape Agricultural Employers Association (CAEO)

·         Cape Winelands District Municipality

·         Department of Human Settlements

·         Department of Labour

·         Fair trade

·         Koue Bokkeveld Training Centre

·         Labour and Economic Policy Research Group (LEP), UCT

·         Laborie Initiative

·         Phuhlisani NPC

·         Simondium Community Forum

·         Sustainability Initiative of South Africa (SIZA)

·         Tesco

·         Wine and Agricultural Ethical Trading Association (WIETA)

SERI publishes resource guides on protection against eviction under ESTA and relocation to alternative accommodation

The Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI)  has launched two important resource guides earlier this month.

Workshop on farm worker housing and settlement

Social Dialogue Platform for Decent Work in Agriculture

Farm worker housing and settlement

Opportunities and lessons from practice

One day workshop
Wednesday 26th July, 09:00 -16:00

Venue:

Background

The Social Dialogue Platform for Decent Work in Agriculture sets out to organise, facilitate and document periodic learning events on priority issues identified by platform participants. Results from a recent online survey completed by contributors to the platform indicates a keen interest in ways to collaboratively and sustainably address the housing needs of farm workers and their families on and off farms.

See the 4Dialogue... blog at https://quattrologue.blogspot.co.za/ for more information.

Decent work in agriculture: What is involved?

Where does the concept of decent work come from?

The campaign for decent work was first launched by the International Labour Organisation in 1999. According to the ILO:

Decent work sums up the aspirations of people in their working lives. It involves opportunities for work that is productive and delivers a fair income, security in the workplace and social protection for families, better prospects for personal development and social integration, freedom for people to express their concerns, organize and participate in the decisions that affect their lives and equality of opportunity and treatment for all women and men.

(ILO, 2017)