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Labour Appeal Court rejects bid by two steel sector employers to interdict wage deal

Details

neasaBL Premium reports that two employer associations in the steel industry are considering approaching the Constitutional Court after the Labour Appeal Court (LAC) rejected their application to appeal a multi-term wage deal being extended by the Metals and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council (MEIBC) to the entire sector.

The National Employers Association of SA (Neasa) and the SA Engineers’ and Founders’ Association (Saefa) had sought to appeal a Labour Court ruling that upheld a 2021 agreement between the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa) and the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) for workers to get annual increases of 6% until the end of 2024. Neasa and Saefa claimed their members were unable to afford the increases and risked going out of business as a result, but the LAC dismissed their application on 30 November, saying it had no reasonable prospects of success. Neasa CEO Gerhard Papenfus commented: “We’ve lost the case. I think it’s poor judgment. They gave us the judgment in two paragraphs, with the first saying they are turning down our application, and the second saying they won’t give us any reasons. I am shocked by the ruling to say the least. That leaves us with an appeal to the Constitutional Court. We are considering that option, or we will lodge a full-scale attack on Section 32 of Labour Relations Act that makes the extension of (bargaining council) wage agreements possible. We are saying that can’t happen. So, those are the two options we will be considering in the new year.” Numsa’s Irvin Jim said his union welcomed the “triple defeat” suffered by Neasa and Saefa, which he characterised as “right-wing employers”.

  • Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)


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