A strike by Iscor’s steelworkers was imminent with the trade union Solidarity saying on Wednesday that a preliminary mandate indicated that the company’s wage offer would be rejected.
”We were taken aback by the strong convictions of the people, which show that emotions run far deeper than the wage issue. Feelings are running very high,” Johan Pieterse, Solidarity’s chief secretary in Iscor, said in a statement.
He said that Solidarity was the largest trade union in Iscor and its 4 500 members occupied strategic positions.
The union said the Iscor offer excluded 884 Solidarity members who had been assessed higher than the pay scale after their merit allowances had been included in calculations.
”These workers will receive no salary increases,” Pieterse charged. ”In essence, this offer means that good workers are being punished for their achievements.”
Iscor had offered five percent, but all workers earning more than the current pay scale would receive a five percent increase on their fringe benefits, like medical aid, only. In practice this amounted to a salary increase of a mere one percent to 1,5%,
Pieterse argued.
Solidarity had demanded eight percent, based on salary, for all workers.
Meanwhile, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa said on Tuesday that close to 20 000 workers in the steel and engineering companies would stage a protest march in Johannesburg on Thursday to compel the Steel Industries Federation of SA to meet its wage demands. – Sapa