Engineering News reports that the National Association of Automotive Manufacturers of SA (Naamsa) wants the quickest possible resolution to the looming wage negotiations between vehicle manufacturers and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa).
Naamsa’s Mike Mabasa indicated that a strike in the automotive sector would put “significant pressure” on the industry in the current challenging economic environment. “Our biggest ask is for the original vehicle manufacturers (OEMs, or vehicle manufacturers) and unions to find each other as quickly as possible,” he stated. In 2016, the automotive sector and Numsa signed a three-year wage agreement, for a 10% increase in the first year and 8% in the consecutive years. This agreement comes to an end on 30 June. Negotiations in 2016 were completed without strike action. However, 2013 saw a three-week strike in the vehicle manufacturing industry and a four-week strike in the component sector. Numsa’s leadership has already met with the top brass of the seven vehicle manufacturers in SA, in an effort to draft the bargaining process agreement that will guide the negotiation process. Wage negotiations between Numsa and the vehicle manufacturing sector are normally followed by negotiations in the component manufacturing and retail sector, as well as the tyre manufacturing industry, sometimes leading to protracted strikes affecting vehicle output in SA.
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