The Rex Trueform plant in Salt River, the symbol of the Western Cape textile industry, closes its doors at 2pm - but a brave and imaginative rescue plan will be signed on Tuesday.
The plan, agreed on in principle by Rex Trueform management, the SA Clothing and Textile Workers Union (Sactwu) and the new owners, House of Monatic, starts off in a limited way from next month.
Sactwu secretary general Ebrahim Patel said once the company's intention to close had been confirmed, the union had set to work on a plan that would secure the maximum benefits to retrenched workers, plotting a "sustainable model" which could act as a flagship for rebuilding the tattered industry, and holding out a lifeline of re-employment in the same factory.
- The entire staff of 920 people will get retrenchment packages substantially higher than the statutory requirement. A machinist, for example, will be paid two weeks' salary for each year worked instead of the statutory minimum of one week.
- From July to December Rex Trueform will start up a trouser line, with 100 workers, as a transitional operation between the current owners and the new owners.
- On January 2 the House of Monatic, Brimstone's flagship enterprise in the fashion industry, will start operations in the Rex Trueform building under the Rex Trueform label.
- The new company will have the option of a five-year lease on the premises, and will be allowed the use of the Rex Trueform machines.
- The new owners will restructure operations to include a traditional textile manufacturing plant that is expected to provide employment for 500 people.
- It will also set up a cluster of cut, make and trim operations in the building so that small independent operators will have access to modern infrastructure and necessary support services. This part of the operation will provide a further 500 jobs.
- The House of Monatic, which has proven itself a profitable concern, will source orders in the market.
Patel said he accepted that the venture was still subject to all the pitfalls of a precarious industry, but he was nevertheless upbeat. "What we have put together in this agreement is a sustainable model, which could revive the textile industry and be the first step to the rejuvenation of Salt River."
But when the doors close on 67 years of production in Salt River today, the first wave of 285 workers will have to face up to the bleak reality of leaving the only job they have ever held.
They will take the long, lonely walk from the factory to the union hall to bid farewell to the co-workers with whom they have have laboured.
Machinist Nubawiya Guyan, who has worked at Rex Trueform since she was 14, said: "When I leave the factory today, it will be like I am leaving my family behind. For the past 28 years, this is where I have spent most of my time."
Guyan's friend, fellow machinist Rowayda Baker who has worked for Rex Trueform for 25 years, said most people had not yet processed the reality of Tuesday's closure. - Staff Reporter.
