Notices > National Bargaining Council of SA Leather Industry > Tanning Section > Collective Agreement

All expressions used in this Agreement which are defined in the Labour Relations Act, No 66 of 1995 will have the same meaning as in that Act; and unless the contrary intention appears, words implying the masculine will include the feminine.

"Act"

means the Labour Relations Act, No 66 of 1995;

"assistant splitter"

means an employee who assists in feeding the hide -into the front of the splitting machine;

"Automotive Tanning Industry"

means that part of the leather industry in which employers and employees are associated with the process of tanning and dressing of hides and/or skins, and cutting of upholstery panels for the automotive industry;

"boiler attendant"

means an employee who is employed on maintaining steam pressure and water content in any boiler, and who may also be employed on the making and maintaining of fires;

"break fleshing assistant"

means an employee who feeds the sheep skin to the break flesher;

"break fleshing"

means the removal of excess moisture, loose hangings and breaking of fibres on the flesh side of the skin;

"brushing"

means the application by hand of a base coat or pigment to a pre-dyed skin;

"buffing"

means the removal by hand or machine of the fibres from the flesh or grain leather side to obtain a smooth even surface;

"chemical weighing"

means the weighing and pre-batching of chemicals to formula specification;

"colour matching"

means verifying and adjusting a colour to match the required shade;

"colour mixing"

means the weighing/measuring, blending and mixing of various colour components to specific formulas to obtain the required shade;

"component packing"

means the packing and labelling of component kits to specification;

"component splitting"

means reducing cut leather components to the required substance by machine;

"conditioning"

means the preparation of the hide for staking or milling by a moistening process;

"Council"

means the National Bargaining Council of the Leather Industry;

"counting and packing"

means the counting, recording and packing of the pickled skins into drums’

"crust sorter"

means a person who sorts and grades hides and skins in the crust state;

"curtain coating"

means the application of a coating mixture to leather in a continuous film;

"cutter 1"

means an employee who examines the leather marking any defects, flaws or marks prior to cutting it;

"cutter II"

means an employee who cuts the leather after defects, flaws and marks have been identified by the hide marker;

"Despatch clerk"

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 thereof;

"District Committee"

means a committee established in terms of the constitution of the Council to administer agreements in a particular area;

"day worker"

means an employee who is required or permitted to work on such basis that the majority of his ordinary hours of work fall between the hours of 06h00 and 18h00 and "daywork" will have a corresponding meaning;

"drum closing"

means the sealing and closing of the drum after packed skins are preserved with pickled water;

"drum operator"

means an employee responsible for all aspects of the drum functions required in the liming, tanning and dyeing processes;

"dry cleaning"

means the softening and extracting of the natural fat content from the skin by means of a chemical wash;

"dyeing"

means converting tanned hides or skins into a specific colour with colourants by means of a process;

"embossing/printing"

means imprinting a pattern or design by means of a pattern roller onto the leather surface.

"emergency work"

means:

(a)	work which needs to be done without delay because of fire, accident, storm, epidemic, act of violence, looting, breakdown of plant or machinery, or

(b)	work which cannot be done within normal working time, such as the overhauling or repairing of plant or machinery, and the handling of products which need to be done without delay due to the perishable nature of such products;

"establishment"

means any place in which any operations in connection with the Industry are carried on;

"experience"

means the total period(s) of employment which an employee has had in the Industry;

"fellmongering"

means the de-wooling and pickling of raw sheep skins;

"final fleshing"

means the removal of any adipose tissue and flesh remaining on the flesh;

"final inspector"

means an employee who examines cut leather components for quality, colour and substance;

"final sorter"

means an employee who sorts, grades and examines finished leather for quality, texture, finish, colour variation and defects;

"fleshing"

means the removal of all excess fat and flesh from the raw soaked hide or skin by hand or machine;

"flesh trimming"

means the removal of all loose hanging sections before or after fleshing of the hide or skin not suitable for further processing;

"fork-lift driver"

means an employee who drives and operates a mobile hoist for the purpose of transporting, loading and unloading goods;

"general worker"

means an employee employed on unskilled, manual work including all types of cleaning, carrying, loading or unloading of vehicles, making of beverages, assisting on delivery vehicles, collection/delivery of mail and messages, marking of packages and bales, effluent disposal, feeding hides or skins on to conveyors or transporters, and the physical handling of hides and skins in all departments;

[Definition substituted by section 3(3.1) of Notice No. R. 1393, GG42807, dated 30 October 2019]

"general worker entry level"

[Definition deleted by section 3(3.2) of Notice No. R. 1393, GG42807, dated 30 October 2019]

"glazing"

means producing a bright, glossy or glasslike finish on the grain surface of the leather;

"half-day"

means half the ordinary working period at an establishment;

"hand cutting"

means cutting of components from patterns by hand;

"hand fleshing" - see "fleshing";

"hand pulling"

means the removal of the wool from the grain side of the sheep skin by hand;

"hand spraying"

means the application of a finishing colour coat to the leather surface by means of a spray gun;

"handyman"

means an employee who effects minor repairs to machinery and equipment, and carries out maintenance to buildings;

"hang drying"

means the reduction of the moisture content of semi processed leather by a drying process;

"hide marker"

means an employee who examines the finished leather for quality, substance, defects and colour variation, marking defects, flaws and marks for efficient component cutting;

"hide stamping"

means imprinting or stamping an identification code on the hide by hand or machine;

"hourly rate"

means the rate prescribed in terms of this agreement, excluding overtime, incentives or allowances, but where an employee earns a premium rate, it will mean the higher rate;

"hydraulic press operator"

means an employee who embosses a pattern on to the leather surface with a heated plate;

"Industry"

means the Tanning Section of the Leather Industry;

"laminating"

means attaching a foam, fabric or film backer to the leather component by means of a heating process;

"lay-out"

means measuring the cut component against the master template to verify cutting accuracy;

"learner"

means an employee who is employed to learn one or more operations in the Industry;

"Leather Industry" or "Industry"

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

(1)	Manufacture and/or partially manufacture, and/or finishing of partially manufacture and/or of components, and/or assembling of components of—

(a)	footwear, excluding bespoke made footwear;

(b)	travel goods and requisites, including suitcases, trunks, travelling, folding, sling, shopping, knitting and school bags, satchels, rucksacks, attache, brief and vanity cases, and other similar containers;

(c)

harnesses, saddlery, bridles, saddle bags, girths, leggings, stirrup straps and other similar equipment, wallets, purses, tobacco pouches, cases and boxes for jewellery, musical instruments, binoculars, arms, footwear, bottles, cigarettes, cigars and pipes, dog collars and leads, watch straps, rug straps, belts, braces, suspenders, garters, armlets, (excluding belts, braces, suspenders, garters, armlets manufactured from cloth) and other similar articles designed as substitutes;

(d)	handbags and other bags, and containers designed to hold ladies’ and gentlemens’ personal effects;

(e)	footballs, punch balls, netball balls and boxing gloves;

(f)	hockey and cricket balls.

(2)

(a)	For the tanning, dressing and fellmongering of hides and skins; and

(b)

(i)

preparation of cured or uncured hides and/or skins for tanning; for this purpose "preparation of hides and/or skins for tanning" without detracting from its ordinary or technical meaning, includes any of the following: washing, soaking, fleshing, deburring, liming, unhairing, dewooling, removing scales, deliming, batting and pickling; and

(ii)	tanning of cured or uncured hides and/or skins; and/or

(iii)

retanning and/or dyeing and/or drying and/or softening and/or buffing and/or dressing and/or finishing and/or laminating of leather and/or the combing and/or shearing and/or ironing of hides and/or skins with the wool or hair on; and

(iv)

cutting of upholstery panels from leather, provided that, for the purposes of sub paragraphs (i) to (iii) "hides and skins", include the following: Pelts with or without the fur on; sheep skins 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 paragraphs (1)(b) and

(c)	shall not include—

(aa)	the manufacture of metal components and/or attachments;

(bb)	the manufacture of canvas bank bags, canvas kit bags, canvas ruck sacks, canvas haversacks, canvas sampling bags and canvas explosives bags;

(cc)	the manufacture of any article from rubber;

(dd)

the manufacture of any article or the practice of any trade or occupation covered by the "Printing Industry" which, without in any way limiting the generally accepted meaning of the term, means the industry or undertaking in which employers and employees are associated for the production of printed matter of any nature whatsoever;

(ee)

the manufacture of any article from metal or any kind of container (with or without metal parts) from fibre and/or cardboard (corrugated or otherwise) and/or paper or any compound of paper, and/or any like material, a constituent part of which is fibre and/or cardboard and/or paper and/or any constituent of paper and/or plastic, but excluding the manufacture wholly or mainly from fibres or plastic sheeting material of trunks, attache cases, bags and all similar containers designed to hold personal effects, musical instruments and sporting kit.

The word "plastic" as contained in the paragraph directly above, means any of the group of material 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 singularly or together of heat and pressure.

"liming"

means the de-hairing and plumping of the raw hide by means of a chemical process;

"machine wool pulling"

means the removal of the wool from the grain side of the sheep skin by machine;

"measuring"

means the calculation of the area of the hide, skin or finished leather by means of an electronic device or any other type of measuring equipment;

"milling"

means the softening of the semi-finished or finished hide or skin by pummelling in a revolving drum;

"motor vehicle driver"

means an employee who drives a motor vehicle.

For the purpose of this definition, the expression "driving a motor vehicle" includes all periods of driving, any time spent by the driver on work connected with the vehicle or load, and all periods during which he is obliged to remain at his post in readiness to drive. For the purpose of this agreement, a motor vehicle driver shall be classified as follows:

(a)	Motor vehicle delivery driver means a driver of a vehicle who requires a code 10 licence or higher.

(b)	Motor vehicle general driver means a driver of a vehicle who requires a code 9 licence or lower.

"night allowance"

means the allowance payable to an employee employed on night work based on 42 ordinary hours per week;

"night worker"

means an employee, who is required or permitted to work on such a basis that the majority of his ordinary hours of work fall between the hours of 18h00 and 06h00 and "nightwork" will have a corresponding meaning;

"Non-automotive Industry"

means that part of the leather industry in which employers and employees are associated with the process of tanning, dressing and fellmongering of hides and skins;

"nylon replacer"

means an employee who replaces damaged nylon transporting runners on conveyors or transporters;

"paddle operating"

means the removal of all salt, blood and dirt and loosening of fibres by means of a chemical soak and wash in a paddle;

"pasting"

means the positioning of leather on a pre-sprayed pasted plate for the purpose of flattening, stretching and correcting moisture by a controlled drying process;

"perforating"

means perforating or pin punching of leather components;

"pickle sorting"

means the assessing and sorting of pickled skins into

grades according to the grain quality and shape;

"piece-work"

means work which is remunerated according to quantity or output of work done;

"pilot plant operator"

means an employee engaged in the production of leather samples;

"polishing"

means acquiring the required sheen on the leather surface by means of a high speed polishing roller;

"premium"

will mean the difference between an employee’s actual wage (excluding overtime, incentives and shift allowances) and the prescribed wage.

"Qualified employee"

means an employee who is by competency entitled to receive the full wage for the operation in which he is employed;

"roller coating"

means applying coating mixtures to the leather surface by means of a revolving roller;

"rotor press"

means the glazing, ironing or embossing the leather surface by means of a smooth or engraved heated roller;

"rotor spraying"

means the application of various mixtures and finishes to the leather by means of spray guns attached to a rotating carousel;

"rounding"

means the cutting by hand of untanned hides into bends, bellies, shoulders or backs;

"sammying"

means the removal of excess moisture from the fibers of the hides and skins;

"Secretary of the Council"

means the General Secretary of the Council or anyone appointed to act in his place;

"Security Guard"

means an employee engaged in guarding, protecting or patrolling premises, including searching of vehicles and persons;

"setting"

means flattening, stretching and smoothing the grain of the leather by squeezing out excess moisture;

"shaving"

means the removal of any loose flesh fibres, and reducing the hide to a specific substance;

"shift allowance"

means the allowance payable to employees employed to work shifts of less than 42 ordinary hours per week and shift will have a corresponding meaning;

"sole rolling"

means the compressing of loose fibres of the bend to the required density, flattening the grain and creating a gloss/sheen;

"split sorter"

means an employee who sorts and grades flesh splits for quality;

"splitting"

means the splitting of limed or tanned hides into two layers, i.e. grain and flesh split;

"spray gun mechanic"

means an employee who repairs and maintains spraying equipment in working condition;

"staking"

means softening the leather by flexing the fibres and flattening the creases by pummelling with vibrating staking pins;

"stamping/piece marking"

means embossing or imprinting identification codes or details on components;

"Storeman and/or Warehouseman"

means an employee who is in general charge of stores and whose responsibilities and duties include receiving goods into store, storing and handling of such goods, delivery thereof to departments or for transit and/or (un)packing within the store;

"stores assistant and/or warehouse assistant"

means an employee who mainly performs one or more of the operations referred to in the definition of "Storeman and/or Warehouseman" under the super-vision of a Storeman and/or Warehouseman;

"substance checking"

means the checking of the substance of the grain split of the limed hide in the required substance by means of a substance gauge;

"sulphate painting"

means the application of sulphate paint by hand or spray applicator to fleshed side of skin or penetrating the flesh for the purpose of loosening the hair follicles;

"tanning"

means the processing of a de-haired, limed raw hide into a permanent non putrefying wet blue, wet white or vegetable tanned hide by means of a chemical process;

"Tanning Section"

means that part of the leather industry in which employers and employees are associated—

(a)	for the tanning, dressing and fellmongering of hides and skins; and

(b)

(i)

preparation of cured or uncured hides and/or skins for tanning; for this purpose "preparation of hides and/or skins for tanning" without detracting from its ordinary or technical meaning, includes the following: washing, soaking, fleshing, deburring, liming, unhairing, dewooling, removing scales, deliming, batting and pickling; and

(ii)	tanning of cured or uncured hides and/or skins; and/or

(iii)

retanning and/or dyeing and/or drying and/or softening and/or buffing and/or dressing and/or finishing and/or laminating of leather and/or combing and/or shearing and/or ironing of hides and/or skins with the wool or hair on; and

(iv)

cutting of upholstery panels from leather: Provided that, for the purposes of sub paragraphs (i) to (iii), "hides and skins" include the following: pelts with or without the fur on; sheep skins 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.

"template controller"

means an employee who controls and co- ordinates the issuing of press knives or patterns for cutting component parts;

"toggling"

means stretching and clamping the hide or skin on a frame for the purpose of removing stretch and drying;

"tractor driver"

means an employee engaged in driving a motor vehicle designed for drawing other vehicles and not carrying any load;

"trimming after shaving"

means the removal of all loose hangings and fibres around the perimeter of the hide or skin by hand;

"vacuum drying"

means flattening, stretching and correcting moisture content by means of a heat and vacuum process;

"wage"

means the actual hourly rate that the employee receives (excluding overtime, bonus and incentives) and will include a premium where the employee is paid a premium.

"weekly wage"

means the hourly rate prescribed in terms of this agreement multiplied by the ordinary hours which an employee works in terms of this agreement;

"wet blue sorter"

means an employee who sorts and grades the wet blue hides for quality;

"wool baling/packing"

means the compressing of wool into bales by means of a hydraulic press;

"wool drying"

means the drying of washed wool by heat in a drying cabinet’;

"wool picking"

means the removal of foreign matter from the wool prior to washing;

"wool-skin processing"

means the processing of skins with the wool on;

"wool washing"

means the removal of any residue, dirt, grit and/or sand from wool by means of washing in hot water.

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

Notices

National Bargaining Council of SA Leather Industry

Tanning Section

Collective Agreement

3. Definitions