BL Premium reports that the upcoming wage talks in the metals and engineering sector are expected to be difficult given the negative economic climate spawned by the Covid-19 pandemic.
So says the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa), which represents 19 employer organisations employing about 190,000 people. The salary negotiations will commence under the auspices of the Metals and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council (MEIBC) on 3 and 4 June. The National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa), the country’s largest metalworkers’ union with 360,000 members, is demanding a one-year, 15% salary increase across the board. Seifsa’s operations director Lucio Trentini commented that Seifsa was “expecting a tough round of negotiations because last year Seifsa completed a wage freeze agreement, so there’s no doubt that unions will come to the table with a mindset that they want to recoup what they sacrificed last year.” He added that employees were quite well aware that the economy was not in a good space, “so we will ask unions to understand that.” Trentini said they hoped the parties would find common ground to “save jobs and keep businesses going”. Gerhard Papenfus of the National Employers’ Association of SA (Neasa), whose members employ about 57,000 workers, has said Numsa’s wage demands were unrealistic and any proposal by employers “will not even come close” to the 15% wage increase the union was demanding. He said implementing a 15% demand would be akin to employers destroying their businesses.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (paywall access only)
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