BL Premium reports that employers in the metals and engineering industries are bracing for the worst as the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) has indicated that it will strike from 5 October for better pay in the sector.
Employers have voted for a lockout should the strike by the union go ahead. A lockout entails an employer refusing employees access to the workplace, effectively rendering it impossible for any workers to perform their duties and get paid. Numsa, which represents about 432,000 workers, recently announced the intended strike in a bid to secure above-inflation increases in the struggling metals and engineering sector. The sector, which has been a victim of declining prices due to an increase in cheap imports, accounts for about 1.5% of GDP and employs about 190,000 people. Numsa initially demanded a one-year, 15% pay increase across the board, but in August revised it down to 8% after declaring a dispute at the Metals and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council (MEIBC). The union turned down Seifsa’s proposal for a 4.4% increase in 2021, and inflation-related increases in 2022 and 2023. Lucio Trentini, CEO of the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of SA (Seifsa), indicated: “We have already balloted Seifsa members across the board for the possibility of a lockout in the event it should become necessary. The result of the ballot is overwhelming support for that action should it become necessary.” But he added that Seifsa still believed a settlement was possible because “a strike is not in anyone’s best interests”.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
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