Wage negotiations between the National Petroleum Employers’ Association (NPEA) and the trade union Solidarity have deadlocked, NPEA spokesperson Alfie Ngubo said in a statement.
”Although the NPEA made a settlement offer of a 6,5% wage increase on basic wages, … they were unfortunately not able to resolve the dispute,” he said.
The two parties, which had tried to resolve the matter at a meeting on Thursday, were expected to meet again next Wednesday.
”The NPEA is currently in the process of arranging another meeting with the trade unions for Wednesday, in an attempt to reach a settlement,” Ngubo said.
One of the companies represented by the NPEA, Sasol, has improved the housing subsidy of its employees by 1,5% from 10% to 11,5% of their basic salary, but Ngubo said the increase was not related to the sector wage negotiations.
Solidarity spokesperson Jaco Kleynhans could on Friday not say whether the unions would embark on a strike on Monday.
He had on Thursday said the unions could go on strike if no agreement was reached.
”Solidarity is at present soliciting mandates from its members and a decision will only be taken later,” he said. — Sapa