WIETA News - November
2004
The results of the first 30 audits conducted by WIETA revealed
To date WIETA has conducted audits at 35
different workplaces. In October, we analysed the results of 30 of
these audits, to discover how member companies were doing with the
issues highlighted in the WIETA Code.
The companies were mainly stand-alone
cellars (14), but there were also growers (6) and bottling plants
(5), as well as estates comprising vineyards and growers together
(3). Most of the 30 companies are quite small enterprises (although
quite a few of them were part of a larger group); half of them had
less than 50 employees including seasonal and temporary workers,
while four-fifths of them had less then 100. Twenty three of them
employ less than 40 seasonal and temporary workers. Nevertheless,
these enterprises employed a lot of seasonal and temporary workers -
nearly 40% of the entire labour force – and almost three-quarters of
the companies used labour brokers to supply these workers. Temporary
and seasonal workers were most frequently used in growing
operations, but also quite a lot (43% of total employees) in the
cellars/bottling plants.
In terms of gender, 35% (median) of all
workers and 36% (median) of all temporary/seasonal workers were
women. However, women were very concentrated in growing and bottling
operations, but not in cellars, where they were only 11% of total
workers (in office roles not production) and there were no women
temporary/seasonal workers in cellars at all. This is usually
justified by the need for physical strength in lifting 25kg barrels
and heavy piping equipment in cellars. However, there is an issue of
whether the absence of women as production workers in the cellars is
in line with employment equity requirements in the WIETA code. This
depends on whether all cellar job requirements really exclude women,
and if not, whether recruitment procedures, work environments and
culture are such as to encourage women to apply for cellar work.
Companies audited by WIETA are assessed on
their compliance with 105 individual items by means of visual
inspection, interviews of a +/- 10% random sample of workers,
interviews with key management staff, and inspection of documents
held by the company. The areas where scores were consistently lower
were as follows:
| • |
Possession & knowledge of their contracts by workers |
| • |
Occupational health and safety – especially the frequent
lack of a structured approach with health and safety
representatives and a properly constituted OSH workplace
committee, the lack of formal risks assessments conducted,
the lack of training on OSH (for both ordinary permanent and
seasonal workers), management of workplace injuries,
chemical safety, serious injury threats (such as cleaning
inside large tanks, or fitting tractors with roll bars to
protect the driver if the vehical overturns), fire safety
and general workplace health and hygiene, and last but not
least, housing conditions, especially for seasonal workers
living on the employers’premises. |
| • |
Worker knowledge, understanding and involvement in the
WIETA process |
| • |
Verbal abuse and racism towards workers by their
managers and team leaders |
| • |
Regular work (job security) for seasonal/temporary
workers, because of the lack of proper documentation of
these workers, and the lack of sustained relationships
between the principal employer and labour brokers or
contractors |
| • |
Racial and gender discrimination in the sense that very
few of these companies had made a systematic attempt to deal
with racial and sexual harassment at work |
| • |
Unacceptably high levels of overtime worked especially
during the season, and the fact that this is in many cases
not truly voluntary on the part of workers |
| • |
Failure to control and regulate the activities of
contractors working on the prinicipal company’s premises |
Improvements implemented following audit processes
We sent audit reports to the 30 enterprises, and member companies
were asked to develop an improvement plan for probem areas
identified. To date there have been 4 improvement plans submitted,
and one accepted fully and the company accredited by WIETA. The
improvement plans have in some cases been extensive, involving quite
large expenditure and introduction of new practices, structures or
programmes in the workplace. Here are some examples of what the
improvement plans thus far have contained:
| • |
Basic health and safety training introduced for seasonal
workers at beginning of season |
| • |
Workers given written contracts of employment |
| • |
Labour broker required to issue written contracts of
employment to seasonal/temp workers |
| • |
WIETA worker reps elected – including female |
| • |
Minutes taken and filed of occupational health and
safety meetings |
| • |
Records & I.D.’s of young workers instituted (re: child
labour), and their work checked for appropriateness |
| • |
Health and safety committees started, with training of
management and worker reps |
| • |
Risk assessments undertaken (re: Occupational Health and
Safety) |
| • |
Risk assessments now include health and safety reps
(instead of just outside consultants) |
| • |
Noise levels on machinery reduced and ear protection
provided |
| • |
First aid training instituted for workers |
| • |
Recording of minor injuries begun |
| • |
Safe disposal of empty chemical drums instituted to
prevent inappropriate use by workers |
| • |
Safety data information acquired on agri-chemicals used |
| • |
Training on safe use of chemicals started |
| • |
Begun contract laundry for washing overalls contaminated
with hazardous dust at the workplace (to protect workers’
families) |
| • |
Fire protection at workers’ houses instituted |
| • |
Accommodation increased for seasonal workers to reduce
the number of men sharing a room |
| • |
Improvements (including new building) for seasonal
accommodation including toilets, showers, kitchen & laundry |
| • |
Contracts amended to include rights of pregnant women |
| • |
UIF contributions deducted for seasonal workers |
| • |
Labour brokers instructed to join WIETA and be audited |
| • |
Workshops to inform workers of WIETA process |
| • |
Fire arrangements tested |
| • |
Ammonia alarms introduced to warn of leaks |
| • |
HIV/AIDS plan introduced for the first time |
| • |
Control of deductions from salaries for loans to 10% max |
| • |
WIETA membership and auditing required for grape
suppliers to cellar |
The importance of the WIETA audit process
can be seen in the way that many of these improvements are no more
than is required by our labour laws, and thus represent absolutely
minimum protections for employees. It is also encouraging to see
that some of these improvements go beyond mere compliance with the
law towards development of the workforce in the broader sense, which
is how the WIETA stakeholders intended the Code to function. The
WIETA audit teams have gained valuable experience during this
process, and we are better able now to identify best practices, and
to carry information about them from workplace to workplace via our
reports.
The improvement plans show that the industry
is taking the WIETA process seriously. We will continue to adapt and
improve our auditing methods, with the use of focus group discussion
for issues such as discrimination where subjective factors are very
important.
The indications are that WIETA members will
require membership of WIETA amongst their suppliers, and amongst
labour brokers which provide them with temporary and seasonal
employees. These will be the new challenges for the audit teams in
2005.
Where to from here for
WIETA?
“Working in partnership to promote
ethical trade and to support empowerment and improved working and
living conditions for those employed in the agricultural sector”
WIETA’s revised mission statement
We had an opportunity to meet with board members and others to
debate and discuss the key objectives for WIETA over the next few
years. The facilitator divided us into groups comprising different
stakeholders to discuss key questions, and we had to find creative
ways of expressing our ideas with the other groups. One group
composed a wrap song on WIETA’s core values – needless to say, we
will not be seeking to copyright or record the result!
The key focus for WIETA over the next few years will be as
follows:
| • |
Ensuring comprehensive implementation of the code. |
| • |
Reviewing the code from time to time to ensure it
reflects the needs of the industry. |
| • |
Improving on audit processes and developing the skills
of auditors. |
| • |
Researching trends and employment conditions in the
sector, and disseminating this information to all
stakeholders involved. |
| • |
Facilitating organised expression (‘social dialogue’) on
ethical trade in the agricultural sector. |
| • |
Promoting ethical trade and helping to create a paradigm
shift around trade throughout the supply chain. |
| • |
Sharing our experiences with other sectors and nations,
and working together to support ethical trade
internationally. |
Our aim over the next few years is to be more than an auditing
service within the industry, but to facilitate social dialogue on
issues affecting the code, by bringing stakeholders who are able to
influence change together to discuss improvements and share good
practice. At the AGM we will reveal how we intend to meet the
objectives set out above.
Download
September 2005 newsletter
Download
April 2005 newsletter
Download
November 2004 newsletter
Download
February 2004 newsletter
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