Unions blame govt for job losses

GENERIC:Evraz Highveld Steel Confirms Temporarary Closure of Steelworks.Photo Supplied

GENERIC:Evraz Highveld Steel Confirms Temporarary Closure of Steelworks.Photo Supplied

Published Feb 16, 2016

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Johannesburg - Solidarity and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUMSA) are urging the government to intervene to prevent the loss of 1 800 jobs in the steel sector.

The unions say the state must also intervene to save embattled Evraz Highveld Steel from collapse, which it says will be the fault of the Department of Labour.

The unions note in a joint statement that the steel-maker has issued retrenchment notices to 1 800 of its staff members, a move it said on Tuesday happened on Monday.

This comes after Solidarity revealed that all 1 800 steel manufacturing workers at Evraz Highveld Steel and Vanadium will not be paid their salaries this month. This, it alleges, is because the Unemployment Insurance Fund failed to fulfil its promises.

However, the UIF said the mine had not sent it an invoice and, in terms of the deal, the mine must be in the process of being sold. It did, however, conceded to pay the staff for February.

Read also:  Evraz mulls closing SA unit

Highveld placed its staff in a reskilling programme after it went under business rescue last year. The aim was to equip staff with skills to allow them to enter the market place again. In December, the Department of Labour said a government intervention had helped secure continued employment for 650 workers at Highveld Steel who had been facing possible retrenchment.

The department said it had worked together with the Department of Economic Development to give Evraz Highveld Steel access to the Department of Labour's Training Layoff Scheme, part of government's broader response to problems experienced in the steel sector.

Lower demand for steel from a slowing China and a global glut of the commodity has hit the industry worldwide and put many jobs in jeopardy, including thousands in South Africa.

Blame game

Now the unions are arguing that the Department of Labour’s non-payment for the previously agreed Training Layoff Scheme and the failure of the IDC to provide additional funding of R150 million is behind the layoffs.

Read also:  Steel workers stranded without wages

“The absence of this funding, which is critical for the continuation of Highveld as a going concern, may result in the complete wind down of the business and the retrenchment of all employees. This will have devastating implications for not only the local economy but for the steel industry and South Africa as a whole. As representatives of the Highveld labour force, Solidarity and NUMSA are urging government not to allow this to happen.”

The unions say: “Highveld Steel is a clear case study of government’s ability and willingness to deliver on its own strategic objectives. These priorities have been made clear, with President Jacob Zuma reiterating them as recently as his address in last week’s State of the Nation.”

In addition, the unions note, government’s priorities are to create and retain jobs, with a particular focus on skilled jobs in the manufacturing sector; preserve or rebuild industrial capacity in South Africa and encourage the diversification of local supply chains and improve local capture of income.

“Government’s intervention at Highveld steel would preserve at least 1,750 skilled and well- paying jobs. Saving this business would ensure that unique structural steel capacity is maintained in South Africa and deindustrialisation reduced. Further, it would support local skills, capacity and domestic supply chains. Importantly, it would also reduce imports and pressure on the current account by manufacturing local steel.”

Many companies are replacing internationally sourced items with locally-made ones because of the rand’s current historically low levels.

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