Labour Relations Act, 1995 (Act No. 66 of 1995) Notices National Bargaining Council of SA Leather Industry General Goods and Handbag Section Collective Agreement 3. Definitions

 

All expressions used in this Agreement which are defined in the Labour Relations Act 1995 shall have the same meaning as in that Act and, unless the contrary intention appears, words importing the masculine gender shall include the female; further, unless inconsistent with the context—

 

"Act"

means the Labour Relations Act 1995.

 

"adhesive sprayer Grade A1"

means an employee engaged in applying adhesive to components by means of a spray gun.

 

"assembler Grade A2"

means an employee engaged in assembling, beading/turning component parts of an article to specification or pattern.

 

"attaché case outer coverer Grade B1"

means an employee engaged in attaching by means of adhesive the outer covers to the attaché case.

 

"blocker Grade A2"

in relation to cricket and hockey balls, means an employee who blocks the flat outer leather covers to correct shape and shine.

 

"bonder Grade A2"

in relation to cricket and hockey balls, means an employee who bonds the leather outer covers to the inner core.

 

"braces, etc,"

means braces, suspenders, armlets and garters.

 

"charge hand Grade B2"

means an employee who is responsible for the work executed by employees under his charge, and who takes an active part in the manufacturing process.

 

"component cutter/checker Grade A1"

means an employee engaged in cutting webbing, checking components, fittings, trimmings and attachments correct to work ticket specification prior to assembling.

 

"core moulder Grade A2"

in relation to cricket and hockey balls, means an employee who weighs and mixes various chemicals together and pours the mixture into a mould to form a solid core;

 

"Council"

means the National Bargaining Council of the Leather Industry of South Africa registered in terms of Section 29 of the Act.

 

"creaser Grade A2"

means an employee engaged in marking an indentation parallel to the edge of an article or component for the purpose of decoration or finishing off, using a creasing wheel or similar tool.

 

"cut or burn trimmer Grade A1"

means an employee engaged in the trimming of thread ends, and/or excess material.

 

"cutter Class 1 Grade A3"

means an employee engaged in cutting by hand or machine of split and reconstituted leather, small parts (including full grain leather) and synthetic material.

 

"cutter Class 2 Grade B2"

means an employee engaged in the cutting by hand or machine, component parts from top or full grain leathers, other than small parts.

 

"despatch clerk Grade A3"

means an employee who is responsible for receiving goods into or from a store or warehouse or from departments for despatch or delivery, and who is responsible for the packing and/or assembling of such goods, the checking of packages and the mass-measuring, marking or addressing and administration thereof.

 

"dipping Grade A1"

in relation to cricket and hockey balls, means an employee who immerses leather cups into pigmented finishes.

 

"District Committee"

means a Committee established in accordance with the Constitution of the Council for the administration of agreements in a particular area.

 

"driver Grade B1 or B2"

means an employee who is engaged in driving a motor vehicle, and for the purpose of this definition, driving a motor vehicle includes 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; further, for the purposes of this Agreement, a driver shall be classified as follows:

 

"emboss stamper Grade A2"

means an employee engaged in imprinting of letters or designs on components by means of embossing dies by hand or machine.

 

"exotic cutter Grade B3"

means an employee engaged in cutting of any component parts from exotic leather by hand or machine.

 

"experience"

means the total period or periods which the employee has had in the General Goods or Handbag Industry on any operation.

 

"fitting attacher Grade A2"

means an employee engaged in the attaching of locks, stays, tabs, hinges and handles by hand, by means of rivets or screws.

 

"foreman Grade C1"

means an employee appointed by the employer to exercise control over the employees in an establishment or a department of an establishment, and who is responsible for the efficient performance of their duties.

 

"frame support moulder Grade A2"

means an employee engaged in moulding pre-cut p.v.c. strips to the required frame support shape.

 

"General Goods and Handbag Section"

of the Leather Industry means that part of the industry in which employers and employees are associated for the manufacture and/or partial manufacture, and/or finishing of partially manufacture, and/or of components, and/or assembling of components of:—

The word "plastic" in the paragraph directly above means any of the group of materials which consists of or contain as an essential ingredient an organic substance of a large molecular mass, and which, while solid in the finished state, at some stage in its manufacture has been or can be forced, i.e. cast, calendered, extruded or moulded into various shapes by flow, usually though the application singly or together of heat and pressure.

 

"general worker Grade A1"

means an employee employed on any unskilled manual operation such as:

 

"Grade A1 Operation" in relation to travelling requisites, saddlery, harnesses, braces, personal goods and handbags,

means one or more of the following operations on which an employee is engaged, in or as; adhesive spraying and/or cleaning and/or component/cutter checker and/or cut or burn trimming and/or general worker and/or gluing and/or marking and/or packing and/or riveter class 1 (excluding travelling requisites) and/or stacker and/or staining and/or stuffing boxing gloves.

 

"Grade A1 Operation" in relation to balls, including cricket and hockey balls,

means one or more of the following operations on which an employee is engaged, in or as; cleaning and/or dipping and/or general worker and/or gluing and/or labelling and/or packing and/or squeezing and/or waxing and/or buffing and/or wetting.

 

"Grade A2 Operation" in relation to travelling requisites, saddlery, harnesses, braces, personal goods and handbags,

means one or more of the following operations on which an employee is engaged, in or as; assembling and/or creasing and/or embossing and/or stamping and/or fitting attacher and/or a frame support moulder and/or hand guillotine operator and/or hand plaiting and/or hand spraying and/or hand stitching and/or high frequency welding and/or lining fitting and/or night watchman and/or pointing or tipping and/or runner and/or sewing machinist Class 1 (applicable to saddlery, harnesses, braces and personal goods only) and/or silk screen printing and/or splitting and/or strap cutting machine operator and/or wooden frame assembler.

 

"Grade A2 Operation" in relation to balls, including cricket and hockey balls,

means one or more of the following operations on which an employee is engaged, in or as; assembling and/or blocking and/or bonding and/or core moulding and/or embossing and/or stamping and/or hand spraying and/or hand stitching and/or night watchman and/or splitting and/or spinning and/or trimming.

 

"Grade A3 employee" in relation to travelling requisites, saddlery, harnesses, braces, personal goods and handbags,

means one or more of the following operations on which an employee is engaged, in or as; cutter Class 1 and/or despatch clerk and/or framing of purses or handbags and/or handbag making and/or power guillotine operator and/or riveter Class 2 (applicable to travel requisites only) and/or rotary cutting machine operator and/or sewing machinist Class 2 (applicable to travel requisites and handbags only) and/or skiving and/or storeman and/or wooden component cutter.

 

"Grade A3 employee" in relation to balls, including cricket and hockey balls,

means one or more of the following operations on which an employee is engaged, in or as; despatch clerk and/or hand closer and/or skiving and/or storeman.

 

"Grade B1 employee" in relation to travelling requisites, saddlery, harnesses, braces, personal goods and handbags,

means one or more of the following operations on which an employee is engaged, in or as; attaché case outer coverer and/or light delivery vehicle driver and/or puritan machinist and/or saddle maker Class 1 and/or silk screen technician.

 

"Grade B1 employee" in relation to balls, including cricket and hockey balls,

means one or more of the following operations on which an employee is engaged, in or as light delivery vehicle driver and/or puritan machinist.

 

"Grade B2 employee" in relation to travelling requisites, saddlery, harnesses, braces, personal goods and handbags,

means one or more of the following operations on which an employee is engaged, in or as; cutter class 2 and/or heavy duty vehicle driver and/or saddle maker class 2.

 

"Grade B2 employee" in relation to balls, including cricket and hockey balls,

means one or more of the following operations on which an employee is engaged, in or as heavy duty vehicle driver.

 

"Grade B3 employee"

in relation to travelling requisites, saddlery, harnesses, braces, personal goods and handbags,

means one or more of the following operations on which an employee is engaged, in or as exotic leather cutter

 

"Grade C1 employee"

means one or more of the following operations on which an employee is engaged, in or as foreman

 

"gluer Grade A1"

means an employee engaged in applying adhesive solely to various component parts.

 

"handbag maker Grade A3"

means an employee engaged in the preparation, assembling and completion of the inner and outer component parts of a handbag prior to stitching.

 

"hand closer Grade A3"

in relation to cricket and hockey balls, means an employee who hand stitches two quarters of a ball together for the manufacture of a four-piece ball;

 

"hand guillotine machine operator Grade A2"

means an employee engaged in operating a hand guillotine, and for the purpose of this definition, hand guillotine means a machine with a cutting blade capable of being drawn down by hand action for shearing or cutting leather, paper, fibre boards, or any similar material.

 

"hand plaiting Grade A2"

means an employee engaged in intertwining pre-cut strips to a pattern.

 

"hand sprayer Grade A2"

means an employee engaged in applying paint, varnish, lacquer, stains, dyes or similar materials to leather or synthetic components by means of a spray gun.

 

"hand stitcher Grade A2"

means an employee engaged in stitching component parts together by hand to form a seam using needles and/or a bradawl.

 

"harness, etc,"

means harness, bridles, leggings, saddle bags, stirrup straps, girths, linesmen’s’ safety belts and military equipment other than clothing;

heavy duty vehicle driver Grade B2" (see definition of driver.)

 

"high frequency welder Grade A2"

means an employee engaged in welding or fusing of PVC or plastic materials by means of a high frequency welding machine fitted with electrodes for this purpose.

 

"hourly wage"

means the basic weekly wage divided by the number of ordinary hours in the week.

 

"industry" or "leather industry"

means the industry in which employers and employees are associated for one or more of the following purposes:

(2)

(b)

Pelts with or without the fur on; sheepskins with or without the wool on; game and goat skins with or without the hair on; all types of reptile skins, and bird skins with or without the feathers attached: Provided that the activities listed under sub-paragraph (1) (b) and (c) shall not include:—

The word "plastic" in the paragraph directly above means any of the group of materials which consist of or contain as an essential ingredient an organic substance of a large molecular mass, and which, while solid in the finished state, at some stage in its manufacture has been or can be forced, i.e. cast, calendared, extruded or moulded into various shapes by flow, usually through the application singly or together of heat and pressure.

 

"labelling Grade A1"

means an employee engaged in the attaching of labels to finished articles.

 

"learner"

means an employee engaged in learning one or more operations in the sections.

 

"leather industry" —

see "industry"

 

"light delivery vehicle driver Grade B1" —

see A driver"

 

"lining fitter Grade A2"

means an employee engaged in fitting pre-made linings to the interior of cases with adhesive, and other interior fittings.

 

"marker Grade A1"

means an employee engaged in marking the position on components for machinists to stitch, and/or for fittings or trimmings to be attached.

 

"packer Grade A1"

means an employee engaged in packing finished articles into boxes or other suitable wrapping for despatch.

 

"personal goods"

means belts, boxing gloves, straps, pouches, wallets, purses, watch and wrist straps, dog collars and leads, rug straps, drawstring tog bags, school bags, open-top shopping bags, closed-top shopping bags of which the maximum dimensions are 457 mm in length and/or 254 mm in height and/or 254 mm in width, knitting bags, stationery cases and all other like articles, irrespective of their description but which are designed as substitutes for any of the aforementioned. For the purpose of this department and the travelling requisites department, an open-top shopping bag shall be a bag on which no provision is made for sealing by fasteners and/or studs and/or zip fasteners.

 

"plastics"

means any one of the group of materials which consists of or contains as an essential ingredient, an organic substance of a large molecular mass and, which while solid in the finished state, at some stage in its manufacture has been or can be forced, i.e. cast, calendared, extruded or moulded into various shapes by flow, usually through the application, singly or together, of heat and pressure.

 

"pointing or tipping Grade A2"

means an employee engaged in shaping the point or tip of belts or straps.

 

"power guillotine operator Grade A3"

means an employee engaged in operating a power guillotine machine, and for the purpose of this definition, a power guillotine means a machine with an angled drop knife fixed at both ends, and moving in an up or down direction for the purpose of cutting paper fibreboard or any other material.

 

"puritan machinist Grade B1"

means an employee engaged in heavy stitching by means of a puritan type machine.

 

"qualified employee"

means an employee who by experience is entitled to the wage prescribed for the operation he is employed on.

 

"riveter class 1 Grade A1"

in relation to personal goods, saddlery, harnesses, braces and handbags, means an employee engaged in joining components together, and/or attaching various fittings to articles by means of rivets by hand or machine, as defined in definitions personal goods, saddlery, harnesses, braces and handbags.

 

"riveter class 2 Grade A3"

in relation to travelling requisites, means an employee engaged in attaching fittings and/or attachments by means of rivets to articles defined in definition travelling requisites, by means of hand or machine.

 

"rotary cutting machine operator Grade A3"

means an employee engaged in operating a rotary cutting machine, and for the purpose of this definition, a rotary cutting machine means a machine used for cutting or slitting boards by means of a passing through process which is capable of making one or more cuts in one operation.

 

"runner Grade A2"

means an employee engaged in feeding and collecting work and/or providing sundry material requirements to operators.

 

"saddle maker class 1 Grade B1"

means an employee engaged in the assembly and completion of felt seat, universal, soft seat exercise, McLelland, western, soft seat economy, blocked seat and any other economy type saddles.

 

"saddle maker class 2 Grade B2"

means an employee engaged in the assembly and completion of saddles constructed on a conventional unstrained English style tree, mainly from leather, where the non-detachable panels and parts are attached to the tree by tacks or staples, such as Stock, Buck jumper, racing, polo, English style jumping, American style Lane Fox and/or any special saddles.

 

"saddlery"

refers to the manufacture of all types of saddles.

 

"Secretary of the Council"

means the General Secretary of the Council, and includes any other person appointed by the Council to act in his capacity.

 

"sewing machinist class 1 Grade A2"

in relation to personal goods, saddlery, harnesses and braces, means an employee engaged in all sewing operations that involve the assembly of such articles by means of sewing together, as well as all other sewing machine operations, including harness stitching and computerised controlled sewing operations, excluding puritan stitching, as defined in definitions of personal goods, saddlery, harness and braces.

 

"sewing machinist class 2 Grade A3"

in relation to travelling requisites and handbags, means an employee engaged in all sewing operations that involve the assembly of such articles by means of sewing together, as well as all other sewing machine operations, except puritan stitching.

 

"short-time"

means a temporary reduction in the number of ordinary hours of work owing to shortage of work and/or raw materials, or general breakdown of plant or machinery, or threatened breakdown of buildings, or any other unforeseen circumstances.

 

"silk screen printer Grade A2"

means an employee engaged in screen setting up, registration and imprinting a design or logo on to a component using a squeegee to penetrate the printing ink through the screen.

 

"silk screen stacker Grade A1"

means an employee engaged in placing the screen printed components on drying racks, cleaning/coating of screens and other work related thereto.

 

"silk screen technician Grade B1"

means an employee engaged in all activities in the preparation and execution of screen printing jobs, including artwork preparation, screen exposure, colour matching and checking.

 

"skiver Grade A3"

means an employee engaged in reducing the thickness of the edge of the cut leather component by hand or machine to a pre-determined width.

 

"spinner Grade A2"

in relation to cricket and hockey balls, means an employee engaged in the production of synthetic balls.

 

"splitter Grade A2"

means an employee engaged in reducing the cut leather component to a specific thickness/substance by machine.

 

"squeezing Grade A1"

in relation to cricket and hockey balls, means an employee engaged in flattening the seam of the ball after bonding by means of squeezing.

 

"stainer Grade A1"

means an employee engaged in applying stain to raw edges.

 

"Storeman and/or Warehouseman Grade A3"

means an employee who is in general charge of stores, and who is responsible for receiving goods into stores, and for the storing and handling thereof, the delivery thereof out of stores to departments or for transit and/or for packing within the store or warehouse, and the unpacking thereof.

 

"strap cutter Grade A2"

means an employee engaged in cutting straps, belts or material into strips by means of a machine fitted with circular cutting blades, making one or more cuts per operation.

 

"stuffing boxing gloves Grade A1"

means the filling of the gloves with padding.

 

"travelling requisites"

means suitcases and attaché cases, trunks of all descriptions, travelling bags, briefcases, folio cases, gladstone bags, and all other containers designed to hold wearing apparel, personal effects, sporting kit, musical instruments and all other like articles, irrespective of their description, but which are designed as substitutes for any of the aforementioned; but shall not include knitting bags, open-top shopping bags and closed-top shopping bags of which the maximum dimensions are 457 mm in length and/or 254 mm in height and/or 254 mm in width or less, and draw-string tog bags. For the purpose of this definition, a closed-top shopping bag shall be a bag which may be sealed by fasteners and/or press studs and/or zip fasteners, but shall not include ladies’ and children’s’ handbags.

 

"trimmer Grade A2"

in relation to cricket and hockey balls, means an employee engaged in the trimming off of excess material from the moulded or blocked cups to form a half outer cover.

 

"wax and buff Grade A1"

in relation to cricket and hockey balls, means an employee engaged in applying wax to the finished ball, and buffing same to obtain shine.

 

"wage"

means the basic wage payable prescribed in terms of Clause 4 (1) in respect of the ordinary hours of work prescribed in Clause 5 (1): Provided that, if an employer regularly pays an amount higher than the basic wage in respect of such ordinary hours, it shall mean the higher

amount.

 

"wooden component cutter Grade A3"

means an employee engaged in preparing and cutting timber/plywood components for attaché cases.

 

"wooden frame assembler Grade A2"

means an employee engaged in the assembling of the cut timber/plywood components of attaché cases and sandpapering of same.