Durban -
Production came to a standstill at Durban’s Toyota Boshoku factory on Wednesday when 480 workers went on strike.
This was after negotiations between the management and the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) deadlocked over the workers’ demand for a R1 500 retention bonus, the union’s regional secretary, Mbuso Ngubane, said.
The factory, near Prospecton, makes seats and door trims for Toyota vehicles.
On Monday, the factory’s management informed the staff of the intended strike and said it would seek an interdict in the labour court on Tuesday. But the move backfired when the Durban Labour Court granted the workers the right to go on a protected strike.
Ngubane, who was leading the negotiations with management, told The Mercury they had been offered R300 which they had refused.
“The strike will continue today (Thursday). They will report to the front gates of the factory and picket peacefully,” he said.
Ngubane said the dispute started in 2009 when Toyota gave artisans a retention bonus of R1 500. This decision was taken outside the bargaining chamber and it angered the workers.
The factory’s spokeswoman, Charmaine Lottering, said
: “No production is going on. Management is dealing with the issue and hopefully this will be resolved quickly.”
When asked if they would use the no work, no pay rule, she said this was usually what happened.
Lottering said she could not divulge how much the company had lost as a result of the strike.
The Mercury