JOHANNESBURG, June 12 (ANA) – The Labour Court is set to deliver judgement regarding Solidarity’s application to have the Metal and Engineering Industry Bargaining Council (MEIBC) placed under administration in a bid to save the bargaining council from bankruptcy.
This comes after business lobby group Solidarity approached the court due to the ongoing financial crisis in the bargaining council over the past few of years, as well as the inability of parties in the council to come to an agreement on a number of issues.
The judgement will be delivered at the Labour Court in Johannesburg.
Marius Croucamp, deputy general secretary at Solidarity, said the MEIBC’s financial position has deteriorated to such an extent recently that the bargaining council has been unable to perform its dispute resolution function for quite some time.
Croucamp said as a result, Solidarity requested among other things that an administrator be appointed to see to prospects that the bargaining council could become solvent and functional again would materialise.
Solidarity also wants the MEIBC management’s funds and bank accounts must also form part of the administrator’s brief. Approximately 340,000 employees and 10,000 companies fall under the MEIBC.
“Urgent steps have to be taken to improve the bargaining council’s financial position to ensure its future,” Croucamp said.
The MEIBC is currently trying to resolve a wage dispute between the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) and employers after wage talks deadlocked as the union demands 15 percent increase across the board while employers are offering 5.3 percent.
– African News Agency (ANA)
