A meeting to avert a possible strike in the industrial-chemical sector was unsuccessful on Wednesday, trade union Solidarity said.
Spokesperson Marius Croucamp said a meeting between employees and the union failed to yield results.
Employers in this sector were offering a 7,5% wage increase and unions were demanding 10%.
”We failed to find each other in today’s [Wednesday] meeting,” he said.
Croucamp said the union would discuss the talks with their members and decide on a way forward.
”Unless the employer comes back with another offer, it looks like we will have a strike,” he said.
The unions were issued a strike certificate over two weeks ago and have only to give their employers 48 hours’ notice should they decide to down tools.
Companies that would be affected included parts of Sasol, Omnia and Afrox.
Other unions involved were: the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers’ Union; the South African Chemical Workers’ Union; and the General industrial Workers Union of South Africa. — Sapa