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BL Premium reports that the newly re-elected president of the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa) is confident the metals and engineering sector can avert another crippling strike like the one of October 2021 that lasted nearly three weeks.
In next year’s wage negotiations, the national employer federation will represent 18 independent employer associations with a combined membership of more than 1,000 companies employing over 170,000 people. Speaking after the Seifsa AGM unanimously re-elected him as president on Friday, Elias Monage was buoyant about a positive collective bargaining outcome. The leadership of both the employers and unions recognised what was at stake, he noted. Monage went on to say: “I don’t think we will have a strike next year. We have leadership from both sides that see the bigger picture in terms of policy certainty and considerations and stability of the industry. We are looking at doing things differently and that’s why I am saying I don’t think we will have a strike next year, depending on how both sides manage our affairs.” Monage said the sector was looking at having “a pre-bargaining” round early next year, before the expiry of the present agreement on 30 June 2024. The purpose of pre-bargaining with the unions and other entities was to understand the industry’s economic outlook, outline what the challenges were, and explore how the sector could deal with them, he explained. But, tough negotiations lie ahead as workers are facing harsh economic conditions as the costs of transport, food and shelter have risen sharply.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Michelle Gumede at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
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