Yesterday, the Alternative Information & Development Centre (AIDC) joined about 80 women farmworkers from across the Western Cape and 20 partner organisations in a Women on Farms Project Workers’ Day event to protest the impact of budget cuts.
Most farm workers are employed on a seasonal and or temporary basis and are subjected to very precarious working conditions. The Women on Farms Project has repeatedly had to protest the lack of compliance with health and safety standards these workers face. Farm workers face many challenges related to decent work. They face a lack of employment security, low pay, no/inadequate housing, evictions, inadequate or non-existent health and safety working conditions, and limited protection under labour laws.
The day began with a picket outside the offices of a pesticide producer, Philagro. Philagro is the registration holder of Dormex, a pesticide so dangerous that it was banned in Europe in 2008. This pesticide has been causing many health problems for farmworkers and their families, who are most exposed to it. The poison runs deeper than pesticides.
The day of action highlighted how the systematic hollowing of the budget for the Commission for Conciliation, Arbitration and Mediation (CCMA) severely impacts workers’ rights. During a mass meeting at the Salt River Community House, workers spoke with devastating clarity about what budget cuts really mean. “The government does nothing for us,” one farmworker said. CCMA offices are closing down in rural areas. When there are disputes with bosses and when workers are unfairly dismissed, workers need to either lodge complaints online using mobile data they cannot afford or travel hundreds of kilometres to town. Many described waiting over a year without pay while their cases stall.
AIDC provided an input on austerity at the gathering at Community House, revealing stark figures. Transfers from the Department of Labour to the CCMA are 23% lower in real terms today than in 2018/19. Part-time commissioners have been reduced by 40%. The CCMA ends up operating on a triage basis, and many workers wait months or years without pay before their cases are heard. Given the reduced number of commissioners, precarious workers, such as farm and domestic workers, are not prioritised for the dates on which their cases are heard. And when cases are won by the workers, enforcement of the judgments is not prioritised.
The budget is not just about public spending and tax collection; it is a statement of the government’s values and priorities. This year, in February, when the Minister of Finance tabled the Budget Speech, tens of billions of Rands of tax relief were offered to people earning more than R500,000 per year. While schools, hospitals and CCMA offices are becoming harder to access due to austerity, the rich are becoming richer. Treasury claims that it has to make very difficult decisions and balance pressing needs, but austerity disproportionately harms the poor, women and rural communities.
The National Treasury was also invited to speak at the gathering, but, as on other platforms where concerns from the working class and the unemployed are centred, they failed to pitch. After the mass meeting, farmworkers led a protest to the Department of Employment and Labour’s Offices in Cape Town.
The AIDC presentation also pointed out the need to demand alternatives to austerity. South Africa is the world’s most unequal country, and inequality has worsened during the last 30 years. The top 1% own half of the country’s wealth. Often, this wealth has been accumulated through exploitation and dispossession. A small tax on the top 1% of the wealthiest people could raise enough revenue to cover vacancies across all public institutions. We need to demand a wealth tax and make sure the rich pay their fair share!
AIDC will continue to stand in solidarity with the Women on Farms Project in their struggles against exploitation, illegal evictions, low wages and unsafe working conditions. All workers deserve decent work and protection under labour laws.
