Metal workers union – NUMSA says if next Monday’s negotiations at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) fails, it will call for a nationwide strike in the motor sector.
NUMSA says they met with the employers at the Motor Industry Bargaining Council but their talks have since deadlocked. According to NUMSA, the sector represents over 300 000 workers in the vehicle components companies, petrol stations and car dealerships.
NUMSA’s Phakamile Hlubi-Majola says they want the issue of transport and night shift allowance for petrol station workers and the so-called peace clause which locks NUMSA into a three-year wage deal to be urgently resolved.
“At the mediation, the employers demanded that we drop our demands on both these issues because they wanted to deal with only the wage demand. They made it clear that they had no interest in addressing the working conditions of workers. They want a three year wage agreement with 5 per cent increase each year. We reject this offer with the contempt it deserves.”
