Vote CAEO

In 1996 the Marketing of Agricultural Products Act came into effect and saw the abolishment of control boards. The end of regulated marketing meant producers had to get used to a self-regulating free-market system.

At the same time, important new labour laws became applicable, such as the Employment and Labour Relations Act and regulations on basic conditions of, for instance, housing. Labour unions in agriculture became more common.

In the same year, the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) was formed to serve as an authority to settle labour disputes. The purpose was to stabilise the labour market, address social errors and improve labour surety. Two years later the Extension of Security of Tenure Act 62 of 1997 was added to the mix.

Nobody said that going from the old regime to the new South Africa was going to be easy, but farmers are not used to easy, yet they wanted efficiency. Prosperity. Fairness. Compassion. Balance.

Therefore, to establish an equilibrium, a need arose to create an employer organisation by the producers, for the producers. It all began with Jack van Dyk, at that stage human resources director and overseer of over 5 000 employers at DuToit Agri He formed the Cape Agri Employers Association (CAEO) in 1998. At the time Francois Malan from Simonsig served on the Human Resources Committee of the Deciduous Fruit Board in the Western Cape and Jack roped him in. Today Francois is the chairman of CAEO. “It was all about understanding labour law structurally and helping producers to adapt to this new environment. Like the employees have labour unions, you can kind of look at CAEO as a union for employers,” he comments.

Another pioneer of the early days is Johan Hopkins. His specialist knowledge of human resources and vast network made him an invaluable member. Johan served as Chief Executive Officer from 2016 until his retirement this year and was replaced by Ciske Oosthuizen, an admitted attorney who has been working for CAEO since 2013. “Straight after I’ve been admitted I realised going to court was not for me. Going into agriculture made more sense, using my knowledge to really help people.”

Today, some 26 years later, the CAEO is a well-groomed organisation helping their 444 members and over 80 000 farmworkers to streamline their farming businesses with knowledge regarding labour issues, minimum wages, overtime and other potential disputes. It’s not a law unit, it is an institution with a panel of experts helping producers to get the best results to maximise productivity and minimise disputes. It’s also not a watchdog, it’s a source of knowledge, making the life of every member, and their workers, better, and more efficient. CAEO works in two ways. Firstly, when a producer and a worker or workers have a dispute regarding overtime, wages, or whatever, an expert from CAEO can be called out as an arbiter to help resolve the issue. More importantly, the CAEO is constantly sourcing and accumulating knowledge to help defuse as many of these disputes as possible.

They are in conversation with the Department of Labour about issues such as minimum wages, overtime payment, employment conditions, health, safety, inspections on farms as well as legal terms and standards, amongst others. They have their hand on the pulse of what is happening at the Department of Agriculture, also building relationships at the CCMA, and are in constant consultation with Agri Western Cape, Agri SA and other industry organisations such as Hortgro and Vinpro regarding changing labour issues.

CAEO offers a 24-hour emergency line where free information regarding top-notch advice about any labour issue is available to members. If you’re a member, you’ll get regular electronic newsletters updating you about new laws and changes regarding labour issues. In addition, you can also enquire answers to queries via social media. Oh, and then there is the free generic human resource guidebook as well as a variety of pro-forma contracts regarding employment and housing, and many more. In short, CAEO offers all the knowledge to help prevent disputes, making production more efficient. It’s kind of an insurance policy.

The CAEO advice and consultation service has 11 human resource specialists who will assist with issues such as recruitment, remuneration, training, discipline, wage disputes and general labour relations.

 Albert Rust from Glenbrae farm near Grabouw inherited his CAEO membership when he took over the farm from his dad. “I am so grateful for inheriting this membership. Every farm should get it,” he says. “You see, fruit farming is not a fruit business, it is a people business. Fruit is the product. And when there are lots of people you will get conflict and imbalances. That’s human nature. We can sort all of those out ourselves, on the farm, because the CAEO is our mouthpiece. They empower all of us with knowledge on how to get resolutions on issues. They help keep the finger on the pulse of the fragile side of the business so that the farmers can do what farmers should do. Farm. It’s a no-brainer.”

Then high up on Piket-op-berg is Deidre Eigelaar from Achtervlei a member of CAEO since 2007. Today she is one of the organisation’s directors. She looks at how farming has changed over the last few decades. “A long time ago, there was good compassion between a farmer and workers on the farm. Things were smaller and simpler, things were easier. With the role of more modern labour relations getting bigger and more demanding, compassion is suffering. Units are getting bigger, and more industrial. And people are more separated in the process. Resulting in less compassion. Farming gets more clinical therefore the role of CAEO gets bigger. As arbiter, as interpreter.”

The Cape Agricultural Employers Organisation can be farming’s new source of compassion. After all, farming is a people’s business.

About CAEO:

Joining fee R1800

Membership fee:

• Less than 10 employers: R1850 per annum
• 10 – 499 employers:  R2600 per annum
• More than 500 employers: R3500 per annum

“For our current members, we say thank you. Working with you is rewarding. This is an invitation to others to get on board. We want to help streamline your business,” concludes Ciske.

Contact: Ciske Oosthuizen caeo2@maxitec.co.za

www.caeo.co.za

Caption (left to right): Albert Rust, Deidre Eigelaar, Ciske Oosthuizen, Francois Malan