But is there enough respect – and training – given to those who work among the vines? asks Cathy van Zyl

L’Ormarins viticulturist Rosa Kruger gets angry on the subject of vineyard workers. ‘No-one respects them, and that’s so wrong’, she says. ‘They do hard, backbreaking work and should be regarded as specialist wine growers, not manual labourers who do not add value.’ Her words take on extra significance in the context of that marketing blurb (and real truth) that trips off so many tongues so glibly nowdays: ‘good wines are made in the vineyard’. If this is what our industry believes, why is training of vineyard workers not receiving the kind of attention and priority it really deserves? Or is it?

In a country that desperately needs jobs, the wine industry could be viewed as a hero. Latest official fgures show it provides an income for 345 000 farmworkers and their dependents, and indirectly supports a further 159 952 jobs in allied industries.

There are many, though, who claim that the industry as a whole treats its (almost entirely black) manual labour force badly. It wasn’t until May Day 1993 that the national Basic Conditions of Employ-ment Act was extended to include farmworkers for the first time. The minimum monthly wage for farmworkers in most of the winelands is R650 (in others R800) – the price of a case of decent wine, it’s worth remembering.

Farmworkers also have some protection from the Labour Relations Act, the Extension of Security of Tenure Act (which gives them occupational rights on a farm where they have worked and lived), the Employment Equity Act of 1998 and the Skills Development Act.

Changes forced upon wine grape growers by these various pieces of legislation have gone some way to redressing bad conditions (if not the lack of respect Rosa Kruger speaks of). So too have opt-in programmes such as membership of South Africa’s Wine Industry Ethical Trade Association (WIETA), but few would think that the situation is satisfactorily resolved.

The issue is, however, more complicated than it might seem.

On the one hand, there is a dire need for skilled labourers in the vineyard – but farmers can be reluctant to pass on their knowledge or pay for formal training because, no sooner does a labourer acquire a skills set, they argue, than he or she ups and goes for another job.

On the other, many have significantly reduced the number of workers they employ directly and sub-contract major vineyard tasks because this is easier than complying with all the legislation.

And on the other hand (yes, according to all economists there are always three) those who have seen the business opportunity – the contractors – often abuse both the farmers and the labourers. Many a vineyard has been compromised when the team has not had the experience the contractor promised, and labourers often have to hand over a large percentage of their daily wage just to get a place on the vineyard work-team.

Change is vital, though, in an industry which has not changed significantly in all ways in the decade since 1994. Says Nosey Pieterse, president of the Black Association of the Wine and Spirits Industry. ‘There can be no transformation in the absence of transformation of ownership. There can be no transformation in the absence of transforming the control of the industry. There can be no transformation in the absence of transforming our skills base.’

Respect

Changing attitudes is a prerequisite. Rosa Kruger bridles at farmers who claim to ‘love working on the land but detest dealing with labour’ because, in her experience, sharing knowledge and increasing responsibility creates a more motivated and productive team. ‘If more farmers respected both people and task, they’d discover how easy it is to motivate and bring their employees on board as loyal team members. A few minutes spent explaining why, when, what and where costs nothing, but pays handsome dividends in the long run.’

She recalls an incident from when she was working in Elgin. Two tractor drivers arrived on their own initiative one Saturday afternoon, because they could ‘feel rain in the air’; they drove into the vineyards and started spraying to protect the crop. Before their instructive encounters with Kruger (not all of them pleasant, she remarks), she would have had to physically haul them away from their weekend’s activities to get them to assist her after hours.

Sharing knowledge

‘At Simonsig, sharing knowledge is one of the mantras’, says the farm’s viticulturist, Francois Malan. ‘Here vineyard and cellar workers are regularly exposed to formal training; in the case of cellar operators through both the Senior Cellar Worker Development Programme and in the case of vineyard workers through Learnership Training sessions at the Vineyard Academy with a view to becoming vineyard managers. All training is accredited by the Primary Agriculture Education and Train-ing Authority’.

Malan tells of some other innovative initiatives involving the Simonsig workforce: ‘One of the more popular is to take the cellar and vineyard workers into off-trade establishments such as the supermarket chains and liquor outlets to see what has happened to the product they have nurtured. The pride of seeing their wine on a store’s shelf is remarkable. Whether they pruned the vine or were part of the labelling line, the sense of involvement and ownership is tangible. These outings into the trade end with a meal at a restaurant stocking Simonsig wine so that they can experience the on-consumption side of the business as well.’

There are others that have taken the vineyard worker challenge seriously – Lourensford, Lanzerac and Warwick among them, as are a number of properties in the Robertson area. With R75 000 from the South African Wine Industry Trust, Robertson Wine Valley Trust started a series of training sessions for workers on its member farms. The training focuses on developing technical and leadership skills and personal management involving senior team leaders, farmworkers, tractor drivers and cellar technicians.

The Vineyard Academy

Key to the success of the Robertson pilot project was the input of the Vineyard Academy, which structured the programmes. Before launching the Academy in 2001, its tireless General Manager Henry Horne undertook an in-depth needs analysis of vineyard worker training, visiting over 50 Western Cape wine farms. The Academy is backed by Afrika Vine-yards Farming Operations, a subsidiary of Winecorp, and Devco, the development arm of the SA Wine Industry Trust.

Training is structured within the National Qualifications Framework and focuses on technical courses (physiology of the vine, establishing a vineyard, trellising, pruning and canopy management, irrigation, vine nutrition and fertilisation and harvesting), at  cost of R400 a day for a group of 20 learners. The first day, dedicated to theory, is followed by a day of practical implementation and assessment – and farmers can claim back costs in terms of the Skills Levy Development Act.

Additional courses are also offered to address life skills (literacy and numeracy, business skills and personal budgeting, HIV, TB, drug abuse and other matters).

The Academy is also responsible, together with the ‘Women on Farms Project’, for training 12 women currently employed by Rustenberg to tend to its vineyards. Rustenberg owner Simon Barlow writes in the estate’s latest newsletter: ‘While in our employ these women are constantly undergoing in-house training in various aspects of viticulture. Once training has been successfully completed, these women will be accredited with a Certificate from The Vineyard Academy. This qualification and their hands-on experience will enable them to pursue a rewarding career in the wine industry.’

Ethics

Changes in the wine industry are being supported by the Ethical Trade Initiative, which launched the Wine Industry Ethical Trade Association in November 2002. It aims to implement and audit ethical labour practices and working conditions in the South African wine industry. Hopefully these aims are enough – but the initiative could also provide local wine producers with a unique selling point.

Asked about the costs of WIETA compliance affecting South African producers’ competitiveness by British trade journal Harpers, audit co-ordinator Peter Lewis said that ‘If you believe that labour conditions are a negotiable cost, then you are going to have trouble. Compliance is not an either/or, it’s a process.’

He has called for greater supplier loyalty from UK retailers, however, in order to safeguard ethical advancements in the Cape. ‘We can’t do what we need to do if the contracts are unreliable’, he says. WIETA is also attempting to attract greater involvement from South Africa’s other key export markets, particularly the Netherlands. And, importantly, it is trying to get as members the labour brokers who provide many winefarms with workers.

Contractors

These labour brokers come under fire from Rosa Kruger: ‘Yes, there are responsible contractors around, but they’re few and far between – and what the others get up to makes your hair stand on end’, she says, attacking their commission structures and their ethics. If the contractor can make more money foisting an unskilled worker on a grape grower he will, she says. And he’ll also treat the workers like dirt.

Henry Horne believes the contractors play a very important industry role because they are the go-between between the farmers and the contract labourers. He acknowledges that not all act scrupulously, but sees an opportunity for the Vineyard Academy to train them to become better managers and run more productive businesses.

It is the contractor’s responsibility to ensure that the workers he places are trained, he says. Funding for the skills transfer can be arranged, so the cost is negligible. But how many workers will take off a few days for training when she or he needs to be in the vineyard earning a few rands to put supper on the table that night? How many contractors will send a worker for training when there’s a very real chance that worker will jump ship a few months later?

Is empowerment on this level in a catch 22 situation, then? Horne is adamant it isn’t. ‘Admittedly, it’s tough to lose a skilled worker when the labour pool is deep with unskilled people. But as more and more people skill up, the balance will shift. Granted, what the industry has achieved to date is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what needs to be done. But there has been real progress, people’s lives have been improved. We just have to keep on doing what we do … and we’ll make a bigger difference.’