Cape wine workers paid less than R60 a day.
February 13, 2009
Crisis - if these claims can be substantiated with fact - then I find the following despicable.
Cape wine workers paid less than R60 a day
(I doubt M&G would publicize this without some basis of fact)
The study from War on Want claims that thousands of employees working on wine-producing farms in South Africa face low pay and the threat of sudden dismissal as the pressure to produce cheap wine for the UK intensifies.
The report, which was based on interviews with workers on wine farms across the Western Cape, said that many employees struggle to feed their families and cannot afford to pay for healthcare or their children’s education.
Now I ask you - after our heated discussion about apartheid still existing within the industry - if the above looks like transformation?
And if any wine producer comes here and explains the hardship of running a business in the wine industry and that their employee’s are lucky to have jobs - they can “F” off in their fancy cars.
And where are WOSA in all of this?
I will contact War on Want to try and obtain a list of the estates involved so we can name and shame.
Posted in Uncategorized
February 13th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
That’s just shocking!
February 13th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
err — you’re in the Cape an dyou write about wine. Why is this a surprise to you??
Haven’t you ever asked how much workers are paid? And if not, why not?
A couple of years ago a winery owner told me, openly in response to my question, that the daily rate for casual grape pickers was 50R
Do you have minimum wage legislation in SA? How much does a McDonalds counterstaff get? Or a Spur waiter*? The pay levels I saw in newspaper adverts seemed low to me, but pay cannot be taken on its own, its connected with cost of living. Some farm workers get free housing, free health care & education for kids so one would expect that to be reflected in cash wages.
If other jobs pay more than farming I they’d be doing those. I’d guess its not just wine farm workers that get these rates of pay.
You’re a citizen of the country, its your problem, it’s not really enough to say **** off to winery owners. Do something.
*Spur waiters have to buy their Spur shirt and buy their own corkscrew. How much do you tip them?
February 14th, 2009 at 8:27 am
The country has a minimum wage enforeced by legislation which equates to roughly R1850 to R2000 per month at the bottom end (i.e. R71 to R76 per day based on a 26 day a month working period).
This minimum wage is enforced across the entire country and is not unique to the wine industry. There are many of us in the industry who find this level of remuneration unacceptable but margins are tight and it is naive of any commentator to expect the wine industry or any other industry to not stick the minimum wage as a base line.
Supermarkets are as much to blame here as anyone else in that they demand huge margins, big A&P budgets, and high quality juice, all for nothing. Their reasons are that the consumer won’t accept higher prices.
So instead of targeting the wine industry target the real culprits, consumers and supermarket buyers. Their habits have reduced the opportunity for workers to earn more money.
February 14th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
“The country has a minimum wage enforeced by legislation which equates to roughly R1850 to R2000 per month at the bottom end (i.e. R71 to R76 per day based on a 26 day a month working period).”
Minimum net wage for farm workers East of Riviersonderend Mountains is approx. R 48.00 per day. If the farm worker is living on the farm the employer is by law entitled to deduct 10% of this wage (= rent).
Minimum wage in hospitality (also more or less East of Riviersonderend Mountains is around R 1700.00 to R 1800.00 per month) but in hospitality employees sometimes earn extra by tips.
There seems to be a division in minimum wages between urban and rural areas and also between rural and rural and urban and urban. In the agricultural sector the wage system is quite complicated.
But indeed; less than R 60.00 per day is not much.
Also but: many farmworkers don’t have to pay rent, electricity (if provided!!!) and local taxes.
And there is a huge alcohol problem which urgently needs attention from employers and government.
We pay a minimum of R 90.00 per day and we are not very much liked about that by some of the neighbours (indeed driving fancy cars). We also invest in training and info about subjects as alcoholism and HIV/AIDS and now even more locals don’t like that. With some other neighbours we invest in the local primary school (farmworkers school); for example in meals because children in this area suffer of malnutrience and also invest in veggie garden for the community.
Etc. etc.
February 15th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
The history of labour abuses in this country are appalling but many improvements have been made. I grew up on a farm and before I was born (late 70s) there were still stocks on the main square for “misbehaving” labourers to be held as punishment. Crazy!
Since then I have visited many estates and the majority run a very good ship, with proper housing for staff, proper working conditions, farms schools and better pay.
Those Estates in question do need to be named and shamed to save the face of the rest of the wine producing community.
Government also needs to get stuck in here, a potentially huge economic driver in the Western Cape is being underutilised and unsupported. Wine is a brand driven product that can demand high premiums. South Africa needs to grow its brand internationally and unfortunately articles like these don’t help much. Whilst it might be true in some areas why aren’t the Solms and Paul Cluver stories being told?
February 16th, 2009 at 7:21 am
Wine Thief, while articles like these might not help much in growing our brand internationally, it is still important that these issues are raised.
This is also an open “forum”, so if the stories of Solms and Paul Cluver need be told, they have all the opportunities in the world to do so, just like we share our opinions here.
Blogging is not only a platform to raise questions, concerns, and yes, also good news, but it’s a platform that is ideal for everyone in the industry to stake a positive claim on their brand.
The internet has (unfortunately, perhaps) changed in such a way that brands need to keep a pulse on the conversations that goes around their brands, but fortunately, for those who do, it provides a sterling opportunity for some free brand exposure…often times of greater effect than any other media channel.
Back to your question: Why aren’t the Solms and Cluver stories told?
If they had a blog, they could’ve shared their successes for the world to see.
February 16th, 2009 at 7:23 am
Back to the main issue though…I agree with Wine Thief in that the government needs to step up. Again, I’ll refer to the transformation charter, and as Wine Thief mentioned, underutilized economic drivers.
It’s not only the fault of the wineries…but a great deal of responsibility needs to be placed at the feet of government for their ineptness to deliver…
February 16th, 2009 at 7:26 am
thank you everyone for your comments, some very valid points and opinions - i’m glad this has sparked some debate.
i understand that many of these wine farm workers get housing, health care and education - but when they are out of a job that all disappears, its not sustainable development/upliftment I don’t think.
i also understand that supermarkets and consumer demand as well as a proliferation of competition (worldwide) makes it difficult for producers to keep their heads above water.
i also understand that with the labour union demanding a certain minimum level of wages - we have a massive pool of unemployed people in South Africa. Jobs that often get shifted to the cheaper far east. China etc.
but i believe in the sustainable development of employee’s - be it in a large blue chip corporation or on a wine farm - and paying grap pickers below min wages but providing housing and healthcare is not sustainable, it’s anoything but.
it creates a vicious circle of reliance on the grape pickers part - what does the wine farm owner care if his employee leaves or is fired - there are plenty of others to replace him/her.
i understand that these reforms take time to improve but i do feel that they are necessary.
it’s a complicated situation - one that involves the participation of many parties - local governments, wine farm owners, wine farm workers etc.
but i know it can be done with a little bit of creativity and belief - see Solms Delta and Paul Cluver as the Wine Thief points out.
February 17th, 2009 at 10:00 am
Crumaster - First of all, I agree that paying anybody under the minimum wage is not acceptable as it is already very low to start with.
I would just like to know, what makes you an expert on sustainable employee development? You hardly seem to be an expert on wine (you see I can make wild statements as well!).
Sure you’re allowed an opinion. But maybe some more research would go a long way in delivering a more substantial opinion.
And if you have to resort to foul language to get your point acros…………………..I rest my case.
February 17th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
hi johan
i dont claim to be an expert on anything - especially not wine (i just talk about something i love).
i also don’t claim to be an expert on sustainable employment development.
but one doesn’t need to be an expert to realize that the discussed situation is not sustainable.
i also made it very clear that this research was not mine and that : “Crisis - if these claims can be substantiated with fact - then I find the following despicable.”
but you are right - perhaps i should research these things more before i go blurting things out - although that would be against my nature - so ill fight that one within myself.
the use of foul language - well that was very well measured in use - i hoped it would give the post a little edge about it and create heated debate and that seems to have worked.
anyway thanks for commenting.
February 18th, 2009 at 7:49 am
You know more about wine than I do. Then in my eyes, you are an expert. I just blurted things out.
You’re doing well with the blog…………
PS: And the language wasn’t that bad………….
February 19th, 2009 at 8:46 am
R60 per day?? How on earth does anybody live on that??
But here are some of my musings on the matter:
- if the wine producers are paying the legal minimum (whatever that may be with adjustments for housing & other benefits), then as Peter says they are not doing anything more despicable than many other industries, so why single them out for naming and shaming? Rather rant at the Government to raise the minumum wage!! And although you can say it’s morally questionable to pay the bare minimum, these farms are businesses, not charities.
- as the article says, wine (and fruit) farms are under increasing pressure from the foreign markets in which they sell, to drop their prices. Here in the UK, SA wines are NOT dirt cheap. For dirt cheap, you would buy cheap Snanish or French and the occasional (and probably undrinkable!) cheap Uruguayan or Eastern European. And although I would always rahter buy a bottle of Graham Beck Railroad Red than cheap French plonk, most Brits would go for the latter - so that’s what the SA wine industry is competing with, and make no mistake it’s a price war, especially in these tough economic times. It’s the same with fruits - the big boys like Tesco want to sell “3 for 2!” or “50% free!” offers on our naartjies/grapes/apples which means they pay the farmers less and less and this squeeze gets passed down to the workers in the form of squeezed wages. And I know this is the age-old dilemma between labour and management, but would you rather earn R60 per day, or R0 per day if the farm goes out of business?
So I do think it’s a little more complicated than saying “these fat cat wine farm owners in their fancy cars are abusing their workers!” - now that we are global players, we are subject to all sorst of pressures in the global economy, and although would like to see everyone paid a hell of a lot more than R60 per day, in this economic climate a huge and immediate improvement might just not be practical.
Just my 10 cents’ worth!
February 19th, 2009 at 9:19 am
Jeanne, your comments make sense!
Are wine estates/farms also subsidised overseas as per other agricultural practices? And then we need to compete.
February 19th, 2009 at 10:58 am
jeanne you make some very good points - and it is more complicated than “these fat cat wine farm owners in their fancy cars are abusing their workers!” - but if business is sooo tough then why they driving fancy cars?!
anyway its not about fancy cars that line was just used to spark debate.
a lot of this problem requires government subsidy to rectify (or uplift) it - which is almost non existent at the moment as we know.
so how does the wine industry persuade our government to pay more attention to and give more money to them in the way of subsidies? Especially when the government’s perception of the industry is one of ‘the last bastion of afrikaanerdom”.
an incredibly difficult task i think - especially considering more important areas of concern/need in South Africa.
the main thing here is that at least we acknowledge that it isnt good pay and that perhaps there are ways to make it better. at least we can debate those issues.
a lot of estates are doing wonders in terms of employee development - the rest just need to follow the lead.
March 11th, 2009 at 8:16 pm
Got to love townies!
The comments both for and against are quite well constructed.
The simple matter of fact is that labour is not cheap [do you work for the lowest possible wage?] & most (if not all) farmers/estates definitely stick to the labour law (they do check up on one ever so often - IPW regulations etc. etc. etc.).
Producing wine is not cheap, even the “Best Value” wines costs quite a penny to produce. Labour puts a substantial dent in any farms cash-flows and final profits. However, mechanization offers an ever more promising alternative - both in cost reduction and effeciency gains - to labour.
Imagine for a moment the socio-economic effect if all the grape growers & wine producers switched over to mechanical harvesters. This could make upwards of 60% of current labourers on estates redundant.
I’m just saying.