LETTER: Bargaining council puts workers out of jobs
Building contractors are cutting their teams just to be able to compete on price because of high social benefit rates
I have a small business that does home maintenance. I am forced to belong to the Building Industry Bargaining Council (BIBC) in the Western Cape. You have to buy social benefits at very high rates — R78 per day per labourer. But the market is tough, and I have to compete with illegal operators who are not registered and charge very low rates.
There is no real benefit for workers in the long run. Contractors are making their teams smaller and smaller just to be able to compete on price, and a lot of workers are losing their jobs as a result — you see them standing at the roadside every morning begging for work...
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