S. Africa Court Exempts Chinese-Owned Plants From Wage Rules

Textile companies owned by Chinese and Taiwanese families in Newcastle, in South Africa’s eastern KwaZulu-Natal province, won an exemption from an industry pay agreement, allowing them to ignore a regulated minimum wage.

Factories that aren’t members of the National Bargaining Council, where union and business representatives negotiate wages for industries, can hold separate talks with their workers on pay levels, Pietermaritzburg High Court Judge Piet Koen said in a written ruling today.