The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) said on Tuesday that it will stage countrywide marches as well as a general strike in August to halt the removal of industrial tariffs.
“Along with most vulnerable manufacturing industries, Numsa’s 220Â 000 members plan to lead work disruptions in major business organisations and mass protest marches on the United States and European Union embassies and consulates in the second week of August,” Numsa added.
“Numsa’s planned action will put public pressure on multinational companies and foreign governments to influence major disagreements in the deadlocked non-agricultural market-access products (Nama) negotiations,” the union added.
Numsa President Mtutuzeli Tom said that the union’s campaign has already begun to pay dividends as Germany’s largest union federation, IG Metall, successfully influenced its federal government to consider ways to stop conclusion of the Doha round of World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations at the expense of developing countries.
For the first time in history, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) also entered the fray by lending support to Numsa’s cause by arguing that of all Nama scenarios the reduction of tariffs will have a negative impact on 13 developing countries.
These include, among others, Argentina, Brazil, Columbia, Costa Rica, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Morocco, Peru, Philippines, South Africa, Tunisia and Uruguay.
Numsa’s central committee has expressed fears that the reduction of state subsidies by developed countries and trade tariffs will wipe out the largest industrial base in the country.
“The blunt reality is that we are facing serious challenges in South Africa’s largest manufacturing sectors, and the adverse effect of tariff reductions and state subsidies is that industries will cease to exist and further massive job losses in the largest metal and engineering industries will follow,” Numsa deputy president Ben Khoza said.
Numsa demanded that EU and US negotiators make genuine concessions in the agricultural products talks.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and Numsa have filed section 77 notices to the National Economic Development and Labour Council, in which they also demand that employers in multinational companies agree on a 40 co-efficiency tariff structure, with 15% exemption on imports as adopted by the 11 countries participating in Nama negotiations.
Lunch-hour demonstrations and pickets on US and EU embassies throughout the country will precede the planned general strike by Cosatu and Numsa. — I-Net Bridge