Fin24 reports that according to National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) general secretary Irvin Jim, the union won’t budge from its 20% wage increase demand in the ongoing auto manufacturing sector wage negotiations, as workers in the sector have had little protection from rising costs.

In the auto sector National Bargaining Forum (NBF), the Automobile Manufacturers Association (AMEO) represents car companies like Mercedez Benz, BMW, Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen. Numsa is demanding a one-year agreement including a 20% wage increase across the board, 100% payment during short-time and layoff, and the movement of workers at level 4 of the wage scale to level 5. Jim said workers in the sector were resigning early in order to claim from their pension packages and warned that this was a sign that workers in the sector were in serious financial distress. According to Jim, AMEO has proposed a three-year agreement based on forecast CPI, with 6.2% in year one, 5.6% in year two, and 4.7% in year three of the agreement. Numsa spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola said that the union's next meetings with AMEO would take place from Monday to Wednesday next week. She said there had been no new developments in the talks since late July.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Khulekani Magubane at Fin24

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page