While the Automobile Manufacturers Employers Organisation (Ameo) argued on Wednesday that it is too early to call for a strike in the car industry, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) remained adamant that strike action is on the cards before the end of the month.
Numsa on Monday declared “war” against Ameo after wage negotiations over the weekend hit a snag once again.
Ameo spokesperson Dave Kirby said the wage talks deadlock was set aside on Tuesday with the facilitator asking the concerned parties to go back to the negotiating table.
“The wage negotiations are still going on at the moment after our meeting with union representatives; although there was no agreement on the table, we agreed to meet again next week,” Kirby stated.
He added that it is still early and premature to call for a strike in the industry.
“We are optimistic that an agreement will be reached very soon. It is in no one’s interest to call for a strike because we all know the consequences of strike action,” Kirby said.
The employer organisation is sticking to its guns and has refused to change its wage offer of 6,5% across the board. The union has since revised its wage demand to 9% across the board.
The employer organisation was initially offering a 4,4% wage increase across the board while the union was demanding 8% for the lowest grade workers and 5% for workers earning above the maximum rates.
The wage negotiations between the two parties were to determine the increases for all production workers this year.
Meanwhile, Numsa spokesperson Dumisa Ntuli was unapologetic about the union going on strike before the end of the month, which is likely to affect manufacturers’ export deals heavily.
Ntuli claimed that wage negotiations in the car industry have never ended in an agreement before — the union has always embarked on strike action.
“There is no time anymore, so we have appealed to the employers to stop shifting the goal posts in these talks. Our members remain focused and ready to embark on strike action just to remind the employers that we are a strong union,” Ntuli added.
He added that next week is the last chance for Ameo to agree to Numsa’s demands.
“If an agreement is not reached next week, we are going to serve the employers with 48 hours’ notice for a strike action,” he said. — I-Net Bridge