The crippling three-week strike in the R15bn metals and engineering sector is over, after the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) accepted an above-inflation wage offer of 6% from employers.
Numsa, the country’s largest union with about 432,000 members, has been on strike in the sector since October 5, demanding an 8% wage increase. It said this week that it was prepared to settle for the 6%.
However, it wanted the 6% increase to be calculated on what businesses actually paid workers and not the current minimum rate of R49.55 per hour.
The Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of SA (Seifsa), the sector’s largest employer body which represents 18 organisations employing 170,000 workers, said its proposed increase of 5% for artisans and 6% for general labourers was final, stressing that the revised offer was fair, equitable and sustainable.
Business Day has confirmed that Numsa accepted the wage offer on Wednesday.
Yesterday Seifsa confirmed the agreement, details of which would be shared during a media briefing on Thursday afternoon.
Numsa national spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola told Business Day: “We are holding a press conference at 4pm on Thursday, where we will update the public on the strike and the position we are taking.”
The sector lost about R500m in output while workers lost R100m in wages in the first week of Numsa’s strike. Numsa initially demanded a 15% pay increase across the board, but in August revised it down to 8% after declaring a dispute at the Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council.
The steel sector employs about 190,000 people and contributes between 10% and 13% to GDP.
The final question may be whether the wages lost during the strike will ever be made up by the agreed increase.