/ 14 July 2011

Court orders strikers to keep their distance

A temporary court order preventing strikers from being within 60m of their workplaces was issued on Wednesday, two employer bodies said.

“We regard this court ruling as a victory for the rights of employers,” Plastics Converters Association (PCA) CEO Johan Pieterse said in a statement.

Twenty-two organisations and employers, including the PCA and the National Employers’ Association of South Africa (Neasa) had applied for the order.

Pieterse said strikers who defied the order would face charges under their employer’s disciplinary code, and could be arrested.

“A line has been crossed here [by strikers] and we will not stand by idly as we watch our country slide into complete lawlessness. I am sitting at home contemplating my future in this country for the first time in 50 years after I have just been chased off our factory premises by a bunch of thugs under the guise of Numsa,” he said.

About 170 000 workers from the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa), the Metal and Electrical Workers’ Union, and the SA Equity Workers’ Association started a countrywide strike last week, demanding wage increases ranging from 10% to 13%, and a ban on labour brokers.

Several other unions from the chemical, transport, petroleum, and energy sectors joined in this week.

Numsa was not immediately available for comment.

Violent strikers won’t be taken seriously
Meanwhile, Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant said on Wednesday that violence by strikers would prevent their demands from being taken seriously,

“It undermines the system of collective bargaining in this country,” she said in a statement.

Oliphant urged workers to find peaceful methods of reaching agreement.

“The [engineering] industry is critical to the economy of the country and a prolonged industrial action is certainly not in the public interest, hence the appeal that the parties must endeavour to find a solution.”

She said negotiators experiencing difficulties should talk to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, instead of resorting to violence. – Sapa