Labour: Minister enters the lockout fray

THE METAL and engineering industries bargaining council (MEIBC) understood Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant intended to intervene in the battle between the National Employers’ Association of SA (Neasa) and the National Union Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) over employer lockouts, general secretary Thulani Mthiyane said on Friday. If she did, the MEIBC would supply her with all the information she would require. However, Mthiyane said he wondered if Neasa would agree to the 10 percent wage increase each year for three years in the current agreement. The current agreement was signed by Numsa and five other unions and the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa on July 30 after a month-long strike in the sector. The bargaining council would ensure that the labour minister got all the information before she extended the wage agreement to non-parties. – Wiseman Khuzwayo