Operations at car dealerships, fuel stations, auto-spare assembly centres and panel-beating workshops could grind to a screeching halt across the country if no wage agreement is reached between the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) and employers in the motor sector.
But Numsa spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola stressed the union wants to avoid a strike by reaching a pay-hike deal, as their members would be affected by the no-work-no-pay policy if they elected to down tools.
The union leaders and representatives from the Retail Motor Industry Organisation (RMI) and the Fuel Retailers Association (FRA) held crunch talks at the Motor Industries Bargaining Council on Tuesday in an effort to break the wage deadlock. Talks are set to end on Wednesday.
Pushed into a corner
The wage discussions began in March, but Numsa declared a dispute after parties failed to hammer out a pay-hike deal after three rounds of talks at the bargaining council, where the union demanded a one-year 12% pay increase. Numsa accused employers — who had not tabled an offer — of pushing the union into a corner by demanding that it revise its wage demand down.
The sector represents employees in components manufacturing companies, fuel stations, car dealerships, car cleaning and auto-spare assembly, and employs about 306,000 workers nationally, of which about 90,000 are Numsa members.
A strike in the sector could also affect operations at Toyota SA Motors’ R356m parts distribution centre in Boksburg, which was officially opened last Thursday. At 80,000m², roughly the size of 11 football fields, it is the largest automotive warehouse in the southern hemisphere, and holds 2.7-million pieces of stock worth R900m at any given time, supplies 277 dealers and employs 433 workers.
Renamed the Toyota Africa Parts Centre (formerly the Toyota SA Parts Distribution Centre), it has expanded its operations to supply parts and accessories to Toyota, Lexus and Hino dealers in SA and to include dealers in 36 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and six markets outside the region.
A strike can be avoided; all we are asking for is meaningful engagement. Numsa remains ready to talk.
— Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim
Hlubi-Majola told Business Day on Tuesday: “We are [now] meeting with employers. We are not saying any more for now, except that we are engaging each other. We will give a full update on Wednesday afternoon after we have [finished] the meeting.
“If we do not walk out of [the bargaining council] with an agreement on Wednesday, we are headed for a strike. However, we will do whatever is necessary to avoid that. Our attitude to these talks is to prevent a strike from taking place.”
In a statement on Monday, Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim said the talks this week will be crucial as the union hopes to resolve the dispute.
“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,” Jim said. “A strike can be avoided; all we are asking for is meaningful engagement. Numsa remains ready to talk and we urge [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 are enduring extreme economic distress due to the rising cost of living in the country.
“Food prices have skyrocketed and workers are struggling to make ends meet. A 12% increase will make the biggest difference, especially for those who are the lowest earners,” Jim said.
The FRA has said it will not negotiate through the media. RMI chief negotiator Jacques Viljoen said the retail motor industry, “understandably is a very diverse industry comprising more than 20,000 employers and 300,000 employees employed across numerous divergent subsectors”.
“This reality makes for complex negotiations in order to ensure that concluded collective agreements not only provide fair and equitable wage increases, but also the sustainability of businesses trading in the industry,” he said.
Viljoen said the RMI places a high premium on “labour stability and industry peace, and as a consequence, takes the negotiation process extremely seriously”.
“At present, much time is spent on identifying ... core nonwage demands from the trade unions and once this has been dealt with, focus will turn to wage increases across the various subsectors in the industry.
“Progress is anticipated to increase over the next few weeks in the hope that a new wage and substantive agreement is published by the department of employment & labour as soon as possible after August 31 2022, when all the current collective agreements expire.”
Update: August 2, 2022
This article has been updated with comment from RMI chief negotiator Jacques Viljoen
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