Labour Relations Act, 1995 (Act No. 66 of 1995)

Notices

National Bargaining Council for the Clothing Manufacturing Industry

Main Collective Agreement

Part C : Provisions for the KwaZulu-Natal Region

3. Definitions

B. Definitions of the occupations, capacities and duties of employees in the Clothing Sector only

Purchase

"assistant head cutter"

means a person who assist the head cutter in creating designs, styles, fashions and in making patterns, grading patterns and planning cutting jobs;

"assistant storeman"

means an employee other than a labourer who, under the supervision of a storeman, assists in issuing or receiving goods;

"automatic hydraulic hat presser"

means an employee operating an automatic hydraulic hat press used solely for shaping hats;

"bandknife cutter"

means an employee who cuts out all articles of wearing apparel, linings, trimmings or interlinings with a bandknife;

"baster"

means an employee engaged in hand sewing in setting a coat or parts of a coat into position preparatory to other operations and/or underbasting, i.e. hand sewing of linings of coats into position preparatory to sewing the edge seams;

"belt man"

means an employee other than a learner mechanic, engaged in fixing machine belts, oiling bearings, filling oil cans and similar work and assisting the establishment"s mechanic;

"boiler attendant (Clothing)"

means an employee who, under the supervision of a foreman or factory manager, is responsible for maintaining the water level and steam pressure of a boiler in an establishment, and who may stoke, rake, slice and draw the fire in such boiler;

"cardboard box maker"

means an employee engaged in operating a cardboard box making machine;

"cleaner"

means an employee engaged in cutting or trimming off loose ends of cotton left in the garments by previous operators;

"clerical employee"

means an employee who is engaged in–

(a)	writing, typing and filling;

(b)	operating a calculating machine, computer terminal, punch card machine or accounting machine;

(c)

any other clerical work and includes a cashier, despatch clerk (clothing), storeman, shipping clerk, invoice clerk, work study clerk and telephone switchboard operator but does not include any other class of employee elsewhere defined, notwithstanding the fact that clerical work may form part of such employee"s work.

"clicker"

means an employee who cuts out parts of garments from dies using a mechanical or hydraulic press;

"coat-turner"

means an employee engaged in turning coat facings out after machining;

"conveyor" or "conveyor belt"

means a special machine used for the purpose of conveying articles or shirts and/or clothing from one employee to another on an automatic moving belt;

"conveyor feeder"

means an employee responsible for feeding prepared parts of garments on to a conveyor for further operations and who may be assisted by one or more sorters;

"cutter"

means an employee who cuts out all articles of wearing apparel, linings, trimmings or interlinings by any method;

"despatch packer (Clothing)"

means an employee who, under the supervision of a foreman or clerical employee, is wholly or mainly engaged in making up orders and in packing goods for transport, including the sealing of cellophane bags by hand or machine, or delivering in connection with the despatch department of an establishment;

"dressmaker"

means a person engaged in making dresses to individual measurements for private persons;

"driver 1"

means the driver of a motor vehicle with unladed mass of less than 454 kilograms;

"driver 2"

means the driver of a motor vehicle with unladen mass of between 454 and 2 722 kilograms;

"driver 3"

means the driver of a motor vehicle with unladen mass of between 2 723 and 4 540 kilograms;

"driver 4"

means the driver of a motor vehicle with unladen mass of more than 4 540 kilograms;

"examiner"

means an employee who examines finished garments for quality;

"factory clerk (Clothing)"

means an employee who is engaged in one or more of the following duties and capacities:

(a)	Calculating bonus payments from production schedules for the computation of wages;

(b)	checking or recording for production control;

(c)	copying invoices or other documents by machine or hand;

(d)	issuing machine parts, tools, oil and other equipment from a workshop store and/or recording same;

(e)	checking attendance records or recording particulars of employees at work or absent from work, preparing wage cards or envelopes for subsequent use by another employee;

(f)	checking invoices or other documents;

(g)	filing of documents;

(h)	recording particulars of waste.

"finisher by hand"

means an employee who performs one or more of the following operations by hand: Putting pads or wadding into shoulders of coats; fastening or serging sleeve-heads; felling silk facings already basted into position; making button-holes by hand, felling sleeve-head linings, holding such in position with the fingers; beader or embroiderer by hand.

"fitter-up"

means an employee who takes the outside garments together with the cut out linings (called trimmings) and adjusts the outside and insides together accurately so that parts may go forward to the machine to be put together correctly;

"folder"

means an employee engaged in the folding of garments by machine or by hand and buttoning up of garments;

"foreperson (Clothing)"

means an employee who carries the responsibility for the correct and efficient execution of the work entrusted to his/her care in a factory or a department;

"General Worker Heavy Work"

means an employee who is engaged in one or more of the following occupations:

(a)	Binding, wiring or strapping boxes or bales or other containers;

(b)	loading or unloading vehicles, trailers or international standard containers;

(c)	carrying or stacking goods;

(d)	mixing rubber solution for rubberised garments;

(e)	general gardening work;

(f)	washing or polishing of floors and staircases by machine or by hand.

"General Worker Light Work"

means an employee who is engaged in one or more of the following occupations:

(a)	sweeping with a broom and/or dusting and wiping down chairs and tables;

(b)	folding and/or inserting mail, affixing postage stamps or labels for posting;

(c)	making and serving tea or similar beverages and washing crockery, cutlery and kitchen utensils;

(d)	marking, stencilling or affixing labels on boxes, bales or other containers by hand;

(e)	delivering letters or messages or light parcels within the factory premises;

(f)	operating a duplicating and/or addressograph and/or franking machine;

(g)	mopping and/or washing of toilet facilities.

"Grade I employee"

means an employee engaged in one ore more of the following duties or capacities:

(1)

Baster;

(2)

clicker;

(3)	conveyor feeder;

(4)

examiner;

(5)	finisher by hand;

(6)	fitter-up;

(7)

folder;

(8)	lay copier;

(9)	machinist;

(10)	maker of bows for dresses;

(11)	operator of automatic lace, embroidery or monogramming machine;

(12)

presser;

(13)	seam welder;

(14)	setter of automatic pleating machines;

(15)

shaper;

(16)

sloper;

(17)	any other employee not elsewhere specified;

(18)	factory clerk.

"Grade A Employee"

means an employee engaged in any one of the following duties or capacities:

(1)	General worker heavy work;

(2)	layer by machine;

(3)	underpresser.

"Grade II employee"

means an employee engaged in any one or more of the following duties or capacities:

(1)	Assistant storeman;

(2)	automatic hydraulic hat presser;

(3)

belt man;

(4)	boiler attendant;

(5)	cardboard box maker;

(6)

cleaner;

(7)	coat turner;

(8)	covering buckles by hand or machine and/or trimming and cleaning belts after lining and belt having been machined together;

(9)	cutter of traveller"s swatches;

(10)	despatch packer;

(11)	eyelet punching and letting;

(12)	guiding material with paper through automatic pleating machine;

(13)	hat sprayers, i.e. those spray painting hats;

(14)	ironer of fusible interlinings with hand iron positioning and spot fusing of fusible interlinings with special machine;

(15)

marker;

(16)	operator of hand/or machine-operated button-covering machine;

(17)	operator of a shrinking press;

(18)	operator of a semi-automatic or automatic fusing machine;

(19)	operator of a semi-automatic press stud-machine;

(20)	operator of zip machine;

(21)

packer;

(22)	patent turner (hand or machine);

(23)

pinner;

(24)	plain sewer;

(25)	putting fasteners on caps;

(26)	putting material between two paper looms (formers) and preparing for steambox in hand or loom pleating process;

(27)	putting prepared formers in steambox and taking them out again in hand or loom pleating;

(28)	rivetting buckles, bending belt buckles, punching holes for buckles and prongs, pressing prongs into buckles, stapling buckles onto belt;

(29)	rubberising, i.e. waterproofing processes on the work of smearing rubber solution upon seams or edges and rolling them over with a small wooden hand roller, cleaning off any rubber solution, painting seams or oilskins and waterproof hats;

(30)

sorter;

(31)	spreading of PVC (plastic solution) in waterproofing process and/or on raincoats and protective wear;

(32)

Stamper;

(33)	raking material out of looms in hand or loom pleating process;

(34)	waterproofing seams;

(35)	winder or unwinder of lace, embroidery, braids, ribbons, bindings and elastic;

(36)	layer by hand;

(37)	general worker light work.

"hat sprayer"

means an employee engaged in spray painting hats,

"head cutter"

means the person who actively supervises the cutting room and who designs, styles and fashions, makes patterns, grades patterns and who plans cutting jobs;

"lay copier"

means an employee engaged in placing of numbered patterns on a lay to conform with a numbered photograph, diagram or plan;

"layer by hand"

means an employee engaged in laying up materials by hand preparatory to cutting;

"layer by machine"

means an employee engaged in laying materials by machine preparatory to cutting;

"machinist"

means an employee who performs by sewing machine any operation in the making of clothing;

"marker"

means an employee engaged in marking the position of pockets, buttons and/or button holes;

"mechanic (Clothing)"

means an employee engaged in the installation, repair and maintenance of boilers and machinery;

"motor vehicle driver" or "driver of a motor vehicle"

means an employee engaged in driving a motor vehicle and for the purposes of this definition "driving a motor vehicle" is deemed to include all periods of driving and any time spent by the driver on work connected with the vehicle or the load, and all periods during which he is obliged to remain on duty in readiness to drive;

"packer"

means an employee engaged in packing garments into boxes or other suitable wrappings or tying them into bundles prior to their being sent to the despatch department;

"patent turner"

means an employee engaged in turning out or over the edges of collars, facings, bands, cuffs, pockets and/or flaps whether by hand or machine;

"pinner"

means an employee engaged in pinning unfinished and/or finished garments;

"plain sewer (Clothing)"

means an employee engaged solely in performing by hand one or more of the following operations:

Tacking permanent turn-ups; tacking waistband linings; sewing on hooks and eyes, tickets and/or press studs; fastening catch in tops of trousers; sewing on buttons; making and sewing on hangers; felling crutch linings in trousers, felling bottoms and waist-band linings and various odds and ends of sewing; felling necks of vests; fastening edge stays and odds and ends of sewing; felling bottoms of linings or seams of same already basted into position; felling bindings; fastening facings inside already basted in position;

"presser"

means an employee employed in pressing the finished garment by hand or machine;

"seam welder"

means an employee who joins seams by any method other than by a thread-sewing machine;

"setter of automatic pleating machines"

means an employee engaged on setting of pleats on automatic pleating machines;

"shaper"

means an employee engaged in shaping the lapels and collars of coats preparatory to underbasting;

"shop steward"

means an employee at any establishment who has been duly elected as a shop steward in terms of the constitution of the trade union and who has been recognised by the employer as a shop steward;

"short-time"

means working time that is reduced below the usual number of working hours in the establishment when such reduction is due to slackness of work or the exigencies of the Industry;

"sloper"

means an employee engaged in marking or trimming the shape of the necks in the shirt section, preparatory to other operations;

"sorter"

means an employee engaged in sorting out garments or parts of garments for the various operations;

"stamper"

means an employee engaged in stamping the size or identity work numbers on garments or parts of garments, or on any article connected with packaging or despatching of garments;

"storeman (Clothing)"

means an employee in charge of the main stock room of an establishment;

"trimmer"

means an employee engaged in marking in and/or cutting linings and interlinings;

"under-presser"

means an employee other than a presser employed in pressing processes;

"watchman (Clothing)"

means an employee engaged in guarding premises, buildings or other property;

"waterproofing seams"

means waterproofing of a threadsewn seam by means of a hot press;