Close to 20 000 workers in the steel and engineering industry are expected to embark on a one-day protest march in Johannesburg on Thursday.
This comes after the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) and the Steel Engineering Industry Federation of South Africa (Seifsa) failed to resolve a wage dispute over the last two months.
The union issued a 48-hour notice to strike on Monday and has received a certificate to resume industrial action from the Engineering Bargaining Council.
The protest march is part of the union’s effort to compel Seifsa to meet its 12% wage increase demand. The employer federation improved the wage offer from 4,7% to 7,1% at a meeting on July 23.
Numsa spokesperson Dumisa Ntuli said that the union noted the new wage offer and workers were still discussing whether to accept or reject the wage offer.
The parties are meeting again on Friday to consider each other’s proposals.
Thursday’s protest march will commence at Library Gardens, on the corner President and Simmonds streets and will proceed along Simmonds street and arrive at Metal House at 42 Anderson Street where a memorandum will be handed to Seifsa.
Ntuli said that the protest march would be overwhelmingly supported by workers.
”The employer organisation has been very slow to act and ultimately hindered progress in the wage talks. Seifsa has been acting in aberration to improve the wage offer,” Ntuli stated.
He added that the protest action is part of the union’s endeavour to demonstrate workers’ bitterness with low wages in the industry. – Sapa