The National Co-Ordinating Committee (NCC) of the Southern African Clothing & Textile Workers' Union (SACTWU), which met last week, has welcomed developments with our trade union's collective bargaining efforts, albeit under very difficult COVID-19 conditions.

Amongst these efforts is a 7.5% wage increase which we had negotiated for our members in the leather tanning sector.

This wage increase was due from 1 July 2021, and a recently conducted SACTWU audit about its implementation confirms that all tanning sector employers have honoured this collective agreement.

It was the last tranche due, of a 3-year collective agreement which we had negotiated under the auspices of the leather bargaining council.

We are pleased with this development, especially in an environment with employers' unilaterally renegaging on collective agreements having become an increasing new recent trend.

SACTWU will under no circumstances tolerate such reactionary tendencies in our industry.

We commend the South African Tanning Employers' Association (SATEO), with whom we had concluded this leather tanning sector wage agreement, for having acted honorably by ensuring that its member companies actually implement the exact wage increases which we had agreed to during our collective bargaining proceses.

The COVID-19 pandemic and its consequential lockdowns have been extremely hard on workers.

We hope that this 7.5% wage increase (of which implementation became effective on 1st July this year) will bring welcome relief for our leather tanning sector members and their families.