The dilemma of job creation and decent work - Edward Webster
Global Labour Column - Global Labour University
27/09/2011
In August 2010 South African
government officials began closing down clothing and textile
factories in Newcastle, in the province of KwaZulu–Natal. This came
in the face of angry protests from the workers because the owners
were paying less than the statutory minimum wage of R324 ($49) a
week. The factory owners said they could not pay more and survive
in the face of cheap Chinese textile imports.
Globally, the clothing and textile
industry is to a large extent controlled by an oligopolistic group
of large retailers and branded manufacturers, who stipulate their
supply specifications in terms of low price, high quality and short
lead times. But due to the strengthening of the local currency (the
rand) since 2003, the end of the Multifibre Agreement (MFA) in 2004
and relatively high labour costs, South Africa no longer has a
comparative advantage in an integrated global economy. (...)
Professor Webster's full
article can be found at this link.