The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) will hold a picket tomorrow at the Industrial Development Corporation’s (IDC) offices in Sandton, Johannesburg, in protest against planned retrenchments at ArcelorMittal South Africa.
The company recently announced the closure of its steel-making operations in Newcastle and Vereeniging, a move that will result in 3 500 direct and indirect job losses.
NUMSA’s National Spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola says the union engaged with ArcelorMittal on Monday as part of the retrenchment consultation process.
“We actually had a consultation with ArcelorMittal on Monday, as part of the retrenchments consultation. They said that government has not put anything concrete on the table, and as far as they’re concerned, without anything concrete, they intend to continue with their plans to retrench. And this is effectively what is pushing us to picket because we’re saying that we keep hearing all this talk from government, that they want to assist and that they’re going to assist—but as of right now, nothing has been done, and the jobs of workers are on the line,” said Hlubi-Majola.
NUMSA to picket at the Industrial Development Corporation:
