Mittal Steel South Africa on Wednesday said it knew nothing of planned protests by its workers’ union over high steel prices.
”Nothing has been communicated about it at all,” Mittal said in a statement.
The National Union of Metalworkers (Numsa) on Tuesday said it was adamant it would ”mobilise a series of work stoppages, demonstrations, including general strikes in protest against steel price increases”.
No definite date had been announced for the start of campaign, which was still being planned, said Numsa spokesperson Mziwakhe Hlangani on Wednesday.
”It’s in the very early stages, we are now just beginning to mobilise.”
The campaign would start with lunch-hour demonstrations. The union ”might” apply for permission to stage a Section 77 socio-economic strike, said Hlangani.
”It’s not [going to involve] a full-blown strike next week or tomorrow,” he said. ”They [Mittal] know about our campaign.”
Hlangani said Mittal’s ”excessive pricing” could lead to job cuts in the local small and medium steel industry downstream.
”The prices are almost equal [to those] charged to international buyers,” he said. – Sapa