Strike looms for engineering sector in SA
The National Union of Mineworkers (Numsa) has applied for a strike certificate after negotiations for higher wages broke down.
Permission will be granted or denied on July 15th, the union said.
The union is seeking a 15% wage increase across-the-board in the metal and engineering sectors. The workers want the increase on the actual rate workers are earning, but employers are only offering minimum wage.
Employers are offering a wage of R20 per hour in line with government’s recent minimum wage deal. However, Numsa said that the current minimum rate in the sector was already double that.
“We will fight to block the greedy employers from implementing this poverty wage. We have requested a certificate of non-resolution which will allow us to go on strike,” Numsa said.
The worker demands are almost triple the CPI rate in South Africa, and are also against a backdrop of a recession and extremely high rates of unemployment.
The union had sharp words for the ANC, blaming the ruling party for feeding ‘white monopoly capital’ off the backs of workers.
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