The New Age reports that according to the labour constituency at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac), things are edging closer towards the realisation of a national minimum wage (NMW). Nedlac’s Committee of Principals (COP), representing government, business, labour and the community, met at the weekend to iron out their differences regarding the NMW. It emerged that the advisory panel tasked with determining an appropriate level at which to set the NMW would give a report on its work within the next two weeks.
Federation of Unions of SA (Fedusa) general secretary Dennis George indicated: "We'll hear a progress report within two weeks on the motivation and argument for the wage. The matter is quite important." He said that agreeing to a level at which the wage must be set would not be an easy undertaking. "The work is complex, if you set the wage too high, business must have a problem of affordability and they might not be able to pass the cost on to the consumer."
Cosatu national spokesperson Sizwe Pamla said earlier that the labour federation would express its exasperation at the COP meeting over the snail's pace the government had taken to introduce the wage. "We’re are now well over a year beyond the July 2015 deadline set by the 2014 Ekurhuleni Summit for the finalisation of this matter," Pamla stated. He said that the labour federation feared that the advisory panel’s delay in completing its work, would render the finalisation of the NMW a pipe dream.
The original of this report by Bonolo Selebano is on page 4 of The New Age of 24 October 2016
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