The National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) has threatened to embark on a strike if parties on Tuesday and Wednesday don’t break a wage deadlock the union declared after three rounds of talks failed to hammer out a pay hike deal.
The wage talks between Numsa and the Retail Motor Industry Organisation (RMI) and the Fuel Retail Association (FRA) started in March at the Motor Industries Bargaining Council (Mibco), where Numsa demanded a one-year, 12% pay hike.
“The management keeps demanding that we must reduce our demand, but they have put nothing on the table. They have not made an offer. They may as well have put zero on the table,” Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim said in a statement on Monday.
Numsa, the SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) affiliate, is the largest union in a motor industry that contributes 7% to SA’s GDP. The sector represents employees in components manufacturing companies, fuel stations and car dealerships, and employs about 306,000 workers nationally, of which about 90,000 are Numsa members.
“We have declared a dispute with employers. We will be meeting the bosses on [August 1 and 2] under the auspices of the Dispute Resolution Committee of Mibco with the view of breaking the deadlock. We hope to resolve this over the next two days,” Jim said.
“If, we fail to find one another, then unfortunately we will be headed for a national strike. We will then proceed with picketing rules and insist that a certificate of strike is issued,” he said. “A strike can be avoided, all we are asking for is meaningful engagement. Numsa remains ready to talk and we urge them [employers] to work with us to resolve this impasse.”
Jim said the 12% across the board wage demand, which is above the 6.5% headline inflation rate forecast by the Reserve Bank for 2022, is justified as workers and their families were enduring extreme economic distress due to the rising cost of living in the country.
Numsa is demanding a 20% wage increase in the automotive sector, and recently secured above-inflation increases at ArcelorMittal SA, Africa’s largest steel maker. It also wrestled Eskom bosses into signing a 7% wage increase which added R1bn to the salary bill of the cash-strapped power utility in July.
“Food prices have sky rocketed and workers are struggling to make ends meet. A 12% increase will make the biggest difference especially for those who are the lowest earners,” said Jim.
When contacted by Business Day on Monday, FRA CEO Reggie Sibiya said: “We don’t negotiate over the media.”
RMI general manager Jeffrey Molefe referred questions to RMI chief negotiator Jacques Viljoen, who could not immediately be reached for comment.
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