The National Union of metal workers of South Africa (Numsa) is calling on all its members to support the South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) strike against the minimum wage on Wednesday.
Labour federation, Saftu says the minimum wage is too low.
Numsa general Secretary Irvin Jim has lashed out at companies threatening their workers not to strike.
Government approved the national minimum wage of R20 per hour to be implemented on May 1 2018 but the department of labour says the process could be delayed by one or two months.
Numsa says the minimum wage is a shame and a continuation of racism. The union says it is reinforcing SAFTU’s call for a total shutdown of the economy on Wednesday.
The union is calling on all its members to join the strike regardless of the federation they belong to. General Secretary of Numsa’s Irvin Jim says, “What is a fair minimum wage? The workers have spoken – they’ve died, they were massacred by the ANC government, demanding R12 500; and this R20 is nothing less than spitting on their graves and we reject it. We are saying as a start if this government was serious it would impose that R12 500 and secondly it will force South African companies to disclose their financials. But from where we’re seating these companies even under these stiff conditions they are maximising profits.”
Numsa says they do not want their members to be intimidated nor threatened as they embark on their strike action. The Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa) and Cosatu have rejected calls by Saftu and its affiliated leadership to join the nationwide strike.
“We are also aware that individual leaders of these affiliates have taken upon themselves to create confusion to try and cartoon Saftu as an opportunist federation that has no substance, suddenly now workers do not know what is the meaning of R20 an hour.”
The union says since it supports the on-going bus strike – all modes of transportation of the strike will be by train.
Can you afford to pay for food and household expenses on the new minimum wage?
The National Minimum Wage Act, 2017 is set to be implemented in May 2018. However, according to the Department of Labour, the process could be delayed by one or two months.
SABC Digital News and OpenUp (formerly Code for South Africa) has partnered to develop a Minimum Wage App that will give answers to the question: “Can South Africans survive on R3 500?”
Where does the information come from?
OpenUp has used the following data sources:
- Stats SA: “Poverty Trends in South Africa” report
- Pietermaritzburg Agency for Community Social Action (PACSA) “Food Price Barometer“
- Stats SA: Statistical release P0100, “Income and Expenditure of Households 2010/2011”. Embargoed until November 2012
How is it calculated?
The meals are calculated after household expenses are covered. So, in order to get three meals a day, one may have to reduce their allocation to household expenses.
