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Engineering News reports that trade union Solidarity on Thursday emphasised the importance of SA’s steel industry, stating that it was a “key enabler of every part of the South African economy”.
This included the automotive, mining, construction, energy and infrastructure sectors. Speaking at the launch of its Save our Steel (SOS) campaign, Solidarity’s Marius Croucamp noted that the top five steel consuming industries together contributed R600-billion to SA’s gross domestic product (GDP) and employed more than eight-million people. The steel industry provided about 300,000 direct and indirect jobs and contributed 1.5% to SA’s GDP. Croucamp noted that, if steel manufacturing plants had to close, 66% of the labour force in Vanderbijlpark and Newcastle, and 25% of the labour force in Saldanha, would be unemployed. He explained that the primary objectives of the SOS campaign were to save the steel industry by creating public awareness of the challenges the industry was facing, to lobby public support, to promote alignment between the primary and downstream industry and to achieve synergy between them.
- Read this report in full at Engineering News
- Read Solidarity’s press statement at Solidarity online
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page