Strike action is looming in the automotive sector. The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) has confirmed that it’s now in possession of a strike certificate after rejecting an employer offer of 7% in the first year and 5,5% in the other years of a multi-year agreement.
The union was briefing the media in Johannesburg.
Numsa started the wage negotiations demanding a 9% increase.
Numsa General Secretary, Irvin Jim, says, “What we’re rejecting from employers, is 7%, 5,5% and 5,5%. We are happy with 7% in the 1st year. We can live with that, but we do not agree that workers must be given 5,5%. Employers must bring that 0,5% and we can have 7%, 6%, 6%. We can close these negotiations with the current package that we have been able to negotiate. That’s the bone of contention that we are fighting about and it’s irresponsible for the employers to plunge the industry to a strike for a 1% over a period of a three years. This money they can pay to workers and then manage their production, they will recover this 1% over a period of three years,” says Jim.
Video: NUMSA to address the deadlock in wage negotiations with employers
The original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) including Toyota, VW SA, BMW SA and Mercedes-Benz, which are represented by the Automobile Manufacturers Employers Organisation employ more than 30,000 workers.
Numsa has challenged the companies to disclose their financials for transparency.
“All the seven OEM’s must disclose how much money they have generated out of government incentives in the form of Automotive Investment Scheme (AIS) and other incentives such as Volume Assembly Localization Allowance (VALA). The auto industry must also disclose how much money it has made out of generated credit certificates which it uses to offset duties and bring cars that are not locally assembled but are sold in the same market,” Jim explains.
The union also wants National Treasury to intervene, accusing some companies in the private security sector of defrauding workers by deducting money for medical insurance and pension funds but failing to pay these amounts over to the respective service providers.
Numsa says it is looking to action the strike certificate in the auto sector if the employers remain stagnant on the 5,5% offers in the second and third year. The union will also be looking to the courts for a favourable outcome on the retrenchment litigations.
Video: NUMSA addresses wage talks deadlock in auto industry
