Cosatu criticises increase in minimum wage for farm workers

The Department of Labour's minimum wage increase of 75 cents per hour for farm workers was still far from meeting workers' demands, labour federation Cosatu said on Tuesday.  "This latest increase needs to be seen as just another small step in the march towards an acceptable income for farm workers," spokesman Patrick Craven said in a statement.  "This is still far from meeting the farm workers' demand during the 2012 strikes for a minimum wage of R150 per day (R4562.50 a month), which remains a justifiable target," Craven stated.  The department indicated on Monday that farm workers would earn a minimum hourly rate of R12.41 from 1 March 2014.  Craven said a 2013 Employment Conditions Commission report, commissioned from the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy, stated: "Even at a much higher wage of R150 (a day), large numbers of farm workers' households would not have a sufficient income to meet their basic need".