Behind every South African wine bottle lies the labour of workers whose rights and voices matter. The Wine and Agricultural Ethical Trade Association (Wieta), through its Labour Desk, equips seasonal and permanent workers with tools to understand their rights, safety, and responsibilities – creating a fairer, more transparent value chain from vineyard to cellar.
In the complex ecosystem of a vineyard, the transition from vine to bottle relies on more than just favourable weather; it relies on a foundation of fair labour. However, for many years, a significant gap existed in the industry.
While regulations are in place, the importance of worker voice is found lacking within agriculture.
To address this, the Wine Industry Ethical Trade Association (Wieta) established its dedicated Labour Desk. By bringing together workers, producers, cellars, wine brands, trade unions and civil society organisations, the initiative ensures that social accountability isn’t just a corporate checkbox, but a practical, face-to-face engagement that reaches the most vulnerable of the workforce to build positive industrial relationships in agriculture.
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Empowering the seasonal workforce
One of the most critical periods for any producer is the harvest, a time when an influx of seasonal workers enters the value chain. It is here that Chirstone Hornsby, programmes manager for Standards and Stakeholder Engagement at Wieta, sees this as an opportunity for impact.
“Seasonal workers come and go, which can create a ‘grey area’ in terms of knowledge transfer… So what we’ve done is looked at empowering those seasonal workers and looked at areas where we see… workers need to get capacitated in understanding their rights and responsibilities during this time.”
The training is intensely practical, focusing on the basics that affect a worker’s daily life, such as understanding the components of a payslip and navigating occupational health and safety.
Hornsby emphasises that this isn’t just about compliance; it’s about partnership.
“Every worker is a business partner in that value chain, and if they don’t have the knowledge and expertise on their labour conditions or health and safety practises, it can have a cascading impact on the value chain.”
Connecting rights with responsibility
The Labour Desk’s approach is rooted in a face-to-face philosophy. Rather than sending out manuals, Abraham Daniels, labour and projects coordinator at the Wieta Labour Desk, conducts open sessions with producers and cellars.
“It is important for workers to know their rights, but rights also come with responsibilities,” says Daniels. “For example, a worker might know they have 30 days of sick leave over three years, but how do they act responsibly in taking those days? Is it for being truly ill, or just because the days are there?”
By fostering this honest dialogue, the Labour Desk helps workers move from knowing a right exists to knowing how to practically defend it or navigate a grievance through the communication lines internally.
A safety net for the industry
The Fair and Safe Harvest Campaign undertaken by Wieta for its members ensures that even experienced workers continue to grow.
“Even those with experience acknowledge they learn something new in our sessions,” Daniels notes. “We hear them out on how they handled things in the past, and we bring new methods to assist them further at their work stations.”
As the industry moves forward, the Labour Desk serves as both a teacher and a safety net, ensuring that the conscience of South African wine is backed by a workforce that is capacitated, respected, and heard.
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