The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) has finally suspended the three-week strike effective from Tuesday at South African steel producer Iscor (ISC).
Numsa spokesperson Dumisa Ntuli said striking workers would return to work on Tuesday.
Ntuli said the suspension of the strike comes after extensive consultation with the striking workers on the new proposals made by the company. As things now stand, workers have accepted the new package proposals offer from the company of R7-million rand for hardship and a new improved salary scale adjustment.
The parties will meet this week to discuss the current in principle agreement and further deliberate on the new wage increases for 2003.
He added that the three-week primary strike action had been a great success, with all striking workers remaining “focused, united and strong.”
“We are delighted that the company will substantially adjust salary scales of workers more than what the union demanded. The agreement with the company will result in bigger wage increases for weekly paid workers,” Ntuli said.
For the lowest paid workers it means an increase of above R2 500 rand in their monthly earnings.
“This is a victory for workers whose salaries remain unchanged for years despite improvements in productivity and profits of the company. Our primary objective has been achieved.”
The union said that the Iscor workers would receive another wage increase before the end of July.
The union last week formally withdrew its back pay demand after a series of general meetings.
Numsa was demanding R5000 back pay for all workers to cushion the effects of the restructuring process that has taken place in the past seven years, and a comprehensive salary adjustment to be spread across to all skills grades.
The parties met last week for the company to consider a comprehensive salary adjustment, an offer on hardship reward and wage increases for the 2003 round of wage negotiations, but this yielded no results.
Iscor had initially offered the members R4,6-million in back pay. It then upped that figure to R7-million but withdrew the offer when the dispute flared. Iscor had returned to the table with the R7-million offer and was waiting for Numsa to make the next move.
Iscor welcomed the end to the three-week strike at its steel plants and said that the decision by Numsa to forego its demands for back pay relating to the company’s seven years of restructuring, and to return to work was a “sensible” decision that would normalise operations. – I-Net Bridge