The National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) has told its members in the steel sector to be ready “for any eventuality” as it is locked in wage talks with employers in the bargaining council. The union is demanding above-inflation wage increases.
Numsa, SA’s largest trade union with more than 450,000 members, tabled its demands for increases of 7% in the first year and 6% for the second and third years during the first round of talks at the Metals Engineering Industries Bargaining Council (MEIBC) on April 10.
Stats SA reported last week that consumer prices eased for the first time in 2024 to 5.3% in March, down from 5.6% in February. The SA Reserve Bank and some economists expect inflation to average about 5% for the year, down from 6% in 2023.
The steel sector, which has been a victim of declining prices due to an increase in cheap imports, accounts for about 1.5% of GDP and employs about 190,000 people.
Numsa has called on employer bodies such as the Consolidated Employers Organisation, National Employers Association of SA (Neasa), SA Engineers and Founders Association (Saefa), employer organisation SAUEO, and the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa) to table a meaningful wage offer based on the actual rates of pay — not on the minimum rate of pay — in the steel and engineering sector, where the lowest-paid employee earns R59.10 per hour.
“This is what we have defined as a sweetener for this round of negotiations in our submission,” Numsa spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola said.
She said Numsa’s demands were justified by the negative effects of inflationary pressures on workers’ wages and stressed that the move was aimed at cushioning workers from the rising cost of living.
“In 2022, all workers across all grades received increases lower than the annual average inflation of 6.9%. Workers, therefore, experienced a decrease in their salaries [of] between 1.9% and 1.4%. In 2023, [most workers] received increases lower than the average annual inflation of 6%. For two consecutive years, workers in the industry faced losses in income,” Hlubi-Majola said.
Numsa was also demanding that parties ring-fence no less than R2bn to deliver housing for engineering workers, which Hlubi-Majola described as the “missing middle” as banks would not provide loans to them and they did not qualify for government-issue RDP houses.
Numsa said the lowest-paid workers were struggling to make ends meet.
“Food is very expensive, and this has been confirmed by the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group, which researches the cost of the average food basket. In March 2024, it cost R5,277.93 for a basket of food [to feed a family of four, for one month],” said Hlubi-Majola.
“Low wages do very little to alleviate the suffering of ordinary families. The addition of the electricity tariff has made it even more difficult for workers and their families because the cost of living is high. This is why we are saying the demands ... are reasonable given the material conditions affecting the working class.”
Numsa accused Neasa and Saefa of having proposed to review the entire wage schedule “by reducing the minimum rate of pay from R59.10 to R27.58 per hour. They basically want us to reverse all the gains we have made in the last 30 years.”
If employers were not serious about meeting Numsa’s demands, Hlubi-Majola said the union “will mobilise all workers to be ready for any eventuality in case the bosses adopt a stubborn attitude against our proposal.
“They must not take us for granted by attempting to make unreasonable demands. Workers are carrying this industry on their backs and the least that employers can do is to meet us halfway.”
Neasa CEO Gerhard Papenfus could not immediately be reached for comment.
Lucio Trentini, CEO of Seifsa, the sector’s largest employer body, framed the first round of talks as a “very good round, it was a positive round”.
“We are very encouraged by how Numsa framed their demands. It opens the way for a potentially painless settlement,” Trentini said.
“We are positive and no-one at this stage is talking about downing tools or bringing the industry to a standstill. We are hoping for a speedy settlement by looking at what the unions are looking for and what the industry can afford,” he said.
The second round of talks is scheduled for Wednesday, with the final round set to be held on May 8.
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