The National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) slammed “intransigent” employers in the engineering sector and warned of a total shutdown in the industry.
This comes after the union declared a dispute with employers in the engineering sector after a deadlock in wage negotiations last month.
Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim said: “It is quite evident the employers are imposing a strike on to us. Employers have forced us into this undesirable position because of the absurd offer which they have placed on the table. As Numsa, the strike was never on our agenda purely because our core demands are affordable.
“We are calling on every concerned stakeholder to knock sense to the intransigent group of employers that have been frustrating the process of negotiations, or else we will shut down the entire economy on a scale which this country has never seen before.”
Numsa is demanding a 15% wage increase across the board, based on the actual rate workers are earning, not on the new minimum rate. The increases are required to be backdated to July 1,
But employers' proposal includes a three-year wage increase of 5.3% across the board for the first year of the agreement based on the minimum rate, not the actual rate that workers are earning.
Jim said employers in the sector would have to take responsibility for the repercussions that this strike will have on the economy.