As Numsa’s wage strike in the steel and engineering sector enters its third week, parties are looking to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) to break the impasse.
The National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa), the country’s largest union with about 432,000 members, last week rejected a revised wage offer by the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of SA (Seifsa) of 6% from the previous 4.4%.
Lucio Trentini, CEO of Seifsa, the sector’s largest employer body that represents 18 organisations employing 170,000 workers, said on Friday the proposed increase of 5% for artisans and 6% for general labourers was final. It said the offer was fair, equitable and sustainable.
Numsa, however, has rejected the offer, saying that while it was prepared to settle on 6%, certain conditions must be met. The union wants the 6% increase be calculated on what businesses actually pay workers and not the current minimum rate of R49.55 per hour.
Numsa spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola said on Monday: “The mandate our members gave us in response to the 6% is that ... they want the 6% to be ... based on what they are actually earning and not based on the minimum rate. This, for us, remains a sticking point between us and Seifsa. Our members feel that they want a meaningful increase.”
She called on industry bosses to “accede to workers’ demands” if they cared about SA’s economic recovery and the sector. “There have been no talks with Seifsa since the press conference on Thursday. All employers, with the exception of Seifsa, are participating in CCMA mediation. It started on Thursday afternoon [and] the next session is likely to be some time this week,” said Hlubi-Majola.
The R15bn metals and engineering sector lost about R500m in output while workers lost R100m in wages during the first week of Numsa's industrial action. Numsa initially demanded a one-year, 15% pay increase across the board but in August revised it down to 8% after declaring a dispute at the Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council.
The steel sector employs about 190,000 people and is a mainstay of the manufacturing sector, which contributes between 10% and 13% to GDP.
The World Steel Association said in its report that global crude steel production accounted for 1.878-billion in 2020. SA produced 3.9-million tonnes of steel during the period under review.
S&P Global Market Intelligence forecast 2021 global iron ore supply at 2.4-billion tonnes and crude steel production at 1.98-billion tonnes, with iron ore prices around $100 a tonne.
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