A wage deal between metalworkers’ union Numsa and employers in the motor sector is expected to be signed at the weekend, Business Day can confirm.
Phakamile Hlubi-Majola, spokesperson of the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa), told Business Day the union was “still engaging with employers with a view of resolving the wage talks soon”.
Retail Motor Industry Organisation (RMI) manager Jeffrey Molefe said on Tuesday: “Mibco [Motor Industry Bargaining Council] has scheduled finalisation of the draft settlement meeting for Friday and the signing-off date for the settlement is on Saturday. We expect to conclude the wage talks on Saturday.”
FRA CEO Reggie Sibiya said he did not have any updates for the public “except that negotiations are still taking place. I can’t disclose anything more than that at this stage.”
In May, the employers tabled multiterm inflation-based increases for hundreds of thousands of workers falling under the bargaining council, which covers more than 300,000 workers. The FRA and the RMI are part of the bargaining council.
The motor sector comprises employees in component manufacturing companies, fuel stations, car dealerships, tyre shops, aftermarket sales, glass-fitment centres, car cleaning, car parts assembly and panel-beating workshops. It employs about 306,000 workers nationally, of whom about 90,000 are Numsa members.
Hlubi-Majola previously said the RMI wanted a five-year agreement, while the FRA was offering a three-year agreement. Numsa rejected the proposed five-year wage agreement as it was “too long”.
Both organisations offered Numsa inflation-based increases, against the union’s demands for increases of 10% across the board. Inflation is hovering around 3%.
The three-year wage agreement signed in November 2022, in which workers received a 7.5% increase in the first year, followed by increases of 6% in the second and third, ends on August 31.
Numsa has been demanding above-inflation increases in the sector in which it organises, citing the rising cost of living that has seen food, fuel, electricity and transport costs shooting through the roof.
In June, Numsa signed a multiterm wage deal with plastic sector bosses for increases of 7% effective July 1, a 6% increase effective July 2026 and another 6% increase from July 2027.
In July, the union and Gautrain operator Bombela Operating Company signed a one-year pay deal for increases of 4.2%. In the same month, Numsa inked a wage deal with the Glass Industry Employers Association for increases of 5.5% in 2025 and 6% in 2026.
Last week, Numsa announced it had signed a wage deal with bosses in the pharmaceutical sector for an increase of 5.5% from July 1, which rises to 6% from January 2026, and another 5.5% increase from July 2026, increasing to 6% from January 2027.
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