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Numsa demands 15% wage increase in metals and engineering sector

Details

numsaBL Premium reports that the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) has given notice of its intention to initiate wage talks in the Metals and Engineering Industry Bargaining Council (MEIBC) and is demanding a one-year agreement with a 15% wage increase across the board.

Numsa’s demands include an underground allowance of R1,000, a monthly travel allowance of R1,000, and that morning, afternoon and night shift allowances be increased to 10%, 15% and 25%, respectively. The union, which is demanding that the wage agreement be extended to non-parties, also wants employees to be shareholders of the companies they work for. Willie Venter of Solidarity advised that their mandate “is to demand CPI [consumer price index] plus 5%”. But employers in the embattled sector say Numsa’s demands for higher wages are unreasonable, given the negative economic climate. Declining steel prices, due to an increase in cheap imported steel, have also added to the depression in the sector that is responsible for 190,000 direct jobs. Gerhard Papenfus of the National Employers’ Association of SA (Neasa) said on Tuesday that Numsa’s wage demands were unrealistic and that any proposal by employers ‘”will not even come close to that.” With the 2017 wage agreement expiring at the end of next month, the wage talks will be initiated on 3 and 4 June. Numsa spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola said on Tuesday that the 15% wage increase was based on the negative socioeconomic conditions workers in the industry are facing. “The conditions of employment for the majority of our members have not changed since 2017 and they have now been made worse by Covid-19,” she pointed out.

  • Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive


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