Dept of Labour calls for resolution of metals and engineering strike

01 Feb 2016 | Admin Author

The Department of Labour has called on unions and employers to iron out "sticky issues" and end the strike in the metals and engineering sector.

Labour Department spokesperson, Mokgadi Pela, said yesterday that there are still issues around labour broking, the youth wage subsidy and housing that are keeping the parties apart.

He says Minister Mildred Oliphant met employers and unions seperately on Friday.

Numsa started striking for a double-digit wage increase on Tuesday, and several smaller unions have joined in.

Union deputy general secretary Karl Cloete said on Sunday that negotiations were ongoing.

"We will know by tomorrow [Monday] what is happening," Cloete said.

Numsa has demanded a 15 percent wage increase and a R1000 housing allowance in a one-year bargaining agreement. It further wants an end to the use of labour brokers.

On Sunday, police warned that "criminal elements" allegedly affiliated to Numsa would not be tolerated.

On Thursday, the biggest employers' organisation, the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of SA, tabled a three-year wage offer of between eight and 10 percent for different levels of
workers in the first year.

The first category of worker was offered seven percent in 2015 and 2016, while the others were offered nine percent in the second year, and eight percent in the final year.

The National Employers' Association of SA has offered eight percent, subject to an agreement for entry-level workers' wages to be lowered and measures to make the industry more flexible.

On Friday, 26 people were arrested in Gauteng for intimidation, public violence and malicious damage to property related to the strike.