Today's Labour News
This news aggregator site highlights South African labour news from a wide range of internet and print sources. Each posting has a synopsis of the source article, together with a link or reference to the original. Postings cover the range of labour related matters from industrial relations to generalist human resources.
Roundup of labour news on Friday, 1 September 2017
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In our Friday roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that have appeared since
midday on Thursday, 31 August 2017.
Roundup of labour news on Thursday, 31 August 2017
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In our Thursday roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that have appeared since
midday on Wednesday, 30 August 2017.
Jobs stable in vehicle sector in tough times
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Business Report writes that employment in South Africa’s vehicle manufacturing industry remained stable in the second quarter of the year, despite the depressed economy.
The total industry head count ticked up marginally by 0.5 percent or 159 jobs to 30 356 in the last week of June from 30 251 in the last week of April.
This is according to the latest quarterly review of business conditions in the new vehicle manufacturing industry for the second quarter released this week by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa).
Nico Vermeulen, the director of Naamsa, said yesterday that the stable employment in the industry was encouraging in an economy where every few days one or other company or sector was reporting a reduction in head count.
The quarterly review said that with the exception of the fourth quarter of last year, industry employment had remained stable over the past four years.
Industry employment declined by 6 percent or 1 900 jobs to 29 489 at end-December, from 31 389 in the last week of October last year.
Naamsa at the time attributed this fairly substantial decline largely to the lay-off of temporary workers at three major industry plants.
Average industry employment last year was 30 953, compared to 31 260 in 2015.
The slight increase in industry employment levels in the second quarter of this year was driven by an improvement in production capacity utilisation levels for cars, light commercial and medium commercial vehicles. The capacity utilisation levels for heavy trucks and buses declined substantially to 68.1 percent in the second quarter from 74.3 percent in the
This report by Roy Cokayne is on page 20 of Business Report of 31 August 2017
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Roundup of labour news on Wednesday, 30 August 2017
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In our Wednesday roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that have appeared since
midday on Tuesday, 29 August 2017.
Roundup of labour news on Tuesday, 29 August 2017
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In our Tuesday roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that have appeared since
midday on Monday, 28 August 2017.
Amcu threatens Lily protests
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Business Report writes that the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), the majority union at Lily Mine in Mpumalanga, has threatened to roll out protests outside the operation, should the mine be liquidated, and take matters into their own hands.
Solidarity general secretary Gideon Du Plessis said on Friday that if talks with the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) for funding did not yield to a transaction, “then it is time for reality to set in and accept all possibilities and alternatives were considered”.
“Currently all involved are living in false hope. Liquidation is not ideal, but will bring certainty and allow for this sad story to come to an end” said Du Plessis.
Du Plessis’s comments follow the collapse of talks to merge Vantage Goldfields, the owner of the Lily and Barbrook mines, and Galane Gold. He said the chances of getting a buyer for the mine were slim after 18 months of trying to find a solution.
Abednego Magongo, Amcu’s branch secretary at the Lily and Barbrook mines, said on Friday that liquidation would signal the end of hope for both the resumption of production and the retrieval of the container in which three mine workers remain trapped following an accident last February.
Lily employees Yvonne Mnisi, Pretty Nkambule and Solomon Nyerende remain trapped underground after the container they were working in collapsed.
Magongo said on Friday that the Lily Mine was the backbone of the economy of the 7 000-strong Louville community in Barberton and the only source of income for its 900 employees as well as contractors.
“We are opposed to the liquidation. The Lily Mine is the only hope for the village to survive. The operation has 35 years left and we can still make it work. Liquidation means that were are saying we have no hope and there is no intention to retrieve our colleagues who are trapped underground,” he said.
“We are planning to go to the mine carrying our shovels so we can dig for the container. Solidarity only represents 20 members at Lily mine, they do not have the interests of the village and mine workers at heart and their priority is the creditors,” said Magongo.
He said the mineworkers wanted to take matters into their own hands to retrieve the bodies as promises by investors had not materialised. Business rescue practitioner, Rob Devereux, said last week the collapse of the talks for the merger had been disappointing.
Galane chief executive Nick Brodie said the company had no option but to terminate the discussions after Vantage was unable to meet the conditions of the letter of intent.
The original of this report by Dineo Faku is on page 18 of Business Report of 28 August 2017
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Roundup of labour news on Monday, 21 August 2017
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In our Monday roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that have appeared since
midday on Friday, 18 August 2017.
Roundup of labour news on Friday, 18 August 2017
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In our Friday roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that have appeared since
midday on Thursday, 17 August 2017.
Roundup of labour news on Thursday, 17 August 2017
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In our Thursday roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that have appeared since
midday on Wednesday, 16 August 2017.
Roundup of labour news on Tuesday, 15 August 2017
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In our Tuesday roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that have appeared since
midday on Monday, 14 August 2017.
Roundup of labour news on Monday, 14 August 2017
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In our Monday roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that have appeared since
midday on Friday, 11 August 2017.
Amcu plans to march to Union Buildings over lay-off threats
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Business Report writes that the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) is considering a national strike in a bid to oppose the jobs bloodbath as 20 000 mining industry employees face the possibility of being retrenched.
Amcu president Joseph Mathunjwa told journalists ahead of the fifth anniversary of the Marikana Massacre that the strike would follow after a planned awareness march to the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
“Strike action is a part of labour relations. If this awareness march to the Union Buildings does not bring sense to these employers, the next step is to consider approaching the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration to issue a certificate of non resolution that will permit our members to participate in a protected strike,” Mathunjwa said.
Last week Amcu’s archrival, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), led a march to AngloGold Ashanti’s headquarters in Johannesburg to oppose the job losses.
AngloGold Ashanti, the world’s fifth biggest gold producer, announced plans to cut 8 500 jobs, 7 400 jobs are on the line at Sibanye Gold and Bokoni Platinum also planned to cut 2 651 jobs.
The job cuts come as the gazetting of the Mining Charter III added uncertainty in mining, which grappled with rising input costs, volatile commodity prices and South Africa’s recession.
He said a strike would not plunge employees into financial difficulties, particularly in the gold sector, where employers gave employees increases linked to inflation over the past five years.
“They are poorly paid, and they are facing chronic diseases like silicosis, they are worse off. It is better to fight before you die. The whole mining sector should shut down. We should have a revolution in mining, whether it is coal, platinum or iron ore, to say let us break this structure,” he said.
Mathunjwa also weighed in on the uncertainty in the mining industry since Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane gazetted the Mining Charter III.
“There is no direction in mining, we do not take what Zwane is saying seriously in a nutshell,” he said.
Last month, the (NUM) said that Zwane was the worst Mineral Resources Minster since 1994, and planned to request that President Jacob Zuma fire him.
In the latest move, Zwane backtracked on a decision to implement the moratorium on issuing mining licences last week, saying that he would use other legal instruments at his disposal to achieve a social economic impact.
“He (Zwane) is backtracking, because he spoke of something that his ruling party was not in agreement with. So now the question will be with whom has he consulted?
“We are in a crisis in South Africa, some of these department are dysfunctional, no one knows what the other hand is doing.” He did not believe that the charter was enforcible.
“It is an image kind of a document, you cannot enforce the charter, it is a code of good practice.
“During the economic boom, it is when the charter should have been enforced. Now the economy is in a downward trajectory, now you want to enforce the charter, because you are pushing a narrative of radical economic transformation without considering the negative economic impact,” he said.
Around R51 billion was lost in market capitalisation of JSElisted mining companies when the charter was gazetted on June 15.
The original of this report by Dineo Faku is on page 15 of Business Report of 11 August 2017
Roundup of labour news on Thursday, 10 August 2017
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In our Thursday roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that have appeared since
midday on Tuesday, 8 August 2017.
Mine chief says regarding mining charter he’d prefer talk over court
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Business Report writes that, as the Chamber of Mines on Tuesday defended itself against claims by Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane – that it was trying to block transformation in the industry – with counter-allegations of transparency, Gold Fields chief executive Nick Holland said the mining company would favour talks to resolve issues regarding the charter over court action.
Holland told Bloomberg television the issue might affect other companies considering restructuring or deals, but that it was not affecting Gold Fields operations or plans.
He said it was unclear how the court challenge against the third version of the mining charter would pan out.
The charter process had followed a lack of consultation with industry, he said.
The charter, among other stipulations, requires that new mining rights must have a 30 percent black ownership and that a holder of a new mining right pay 1 percent of turnover to black shareholders prior to any distribution to shareholders.
The chamber applied to the court for an urgent interdict against the implementation of the charter, which was gazetted on June 15. In a surprise move, Zwane backtracked on his decision for a moratorium on the granting of new mining licences.
Responding to comments by Zwane, the chamber on Tuesday said it was not true that it was opposed to the transformation of the mining industry.
“The chamber’s only proviso is that real transformation must be implemented with due regard to what is achievable, bearing in mind the realities of the situation the industry faces,” it said.
The chamber also charged that transformation advocated in the charter was designed to benefit the interests of a select few, while killing any appetite for investment and leading to further job losses.
“The Department of Mineral Resources (DMR’s) Reviewed Charter is designed to extract billions of rand in revenues annually from mining right holders into an agency controlled solely by the Minister of Mineral Resources. This agency has no governance in place and the irresistible conclusion is that its purpose is not to benefit transformation,” it said.
About 20 000 mineworkers are facing the threat of retrenchments after Sibanye Gold, AngloGold Ashanti and Atlatsa Resources said they planned to mothball loss-making shafts.
The chamber blamed the DMR for having no transparency and for not indicating who would access the funds, and how the funds would be accountable.
“This is further an unconstitutional attempt to collect an additional tax,” the chamber said.
Zwane on Monday finally submitted an answering affidavit to the chamber’s application to interdict the charter.
This after Judge Ramarumo Monama criticised him for “disrespecting” the court for missing the deadline for filing court documents.
Zwane accused the chamber of making “an attempt to block effective and meaningful participation of black persons in the mining and minerals industry”.
Zwane also blamed the chamber for overstating the impact of the charter.
“The applicant’s complaint that R50 billion has been wiped off mining stocks is, with respect, bizarre. When any legislative or policy change in the country is mooted and debated, it affects those in economic control who might choose in the short term to sell their stocks. To use the litmus test of the short-term movement in mining stocks in response to a policy shift as a gauge for the lawfulness of those legislative interventions is incorrect,” he said.
Zwane also dismissed the chamber’s complaints that it had not been consulted in the drafting of the charter, saying it had had 17 meetings with the chamber between March 2016 and March 2017.
The original of this report by Dineo Faku is on page 20 of Business Report of 10 August 2017
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Roundup of labour news on Tuesday, 8 August 2017
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In our Tuesday roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that have appeared since
midday on Monday, 7 August 2017.
Roundup of labour news on Monday, 7 August 2017
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In our Monday roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that have appeared since
midday on Friday, 4 August 2017.
Land Bank helps create 15 000 jobs in agricultural sector
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Business Report writes that the Land and Agricultural Development Bank of South Africa created 15 000 jobs in the agricultural sector in the year to March by providing finance for emerging farmers, the state-owned lender said yesterday.
The bank, also reported a 10 percent rise in net interest income to R1.3 billion for the year ended in March, up from R1.1bn for the same period last year, while net profit rose 13percent to R347m.
The strong performance came against subdued conditions in the agricultural industry, which included the worst drought in a century and a contracting economy marred by volatile exchange rates affecting commodity prices.
Land Bank chief executive Petrus Nchocho said it made available R2bn for the year to end March through its developmental sector, which has black emerging farmers as its main beneficiaries.
“We are happy 15 000 jobs in the agricultural sector were created through our involvement. However, overall we had set aside an R4.8bn loan disbursement for the period and R2bn went to emerging farmers,” Nchocho said.
Nchocho said the bank grew its gross loan book by 11 percent to R43.3bn, up from R39bn a year before, while managing to reduce overall costs and improving its capital, liquidity and funding positions.
The bank achieved some notable highlights during the year, including supporting farmers impacted by the drought with at least R100m under its Drought Relief Programme, which is administered in conjunction with the Industrial Development Corporation.
The bank also increased support to female farmers, with 262 loans of R161m now on its books.
This year the bank concluded two major funding transactions – a R1.3bn agricultural development facility with the World Bank and the $300m (R4bn) commercial facility supported by Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency.
The bank also obtained an unqualified audit opinion for the financial year in question, demonstrating its ongoing commitment to good governance and sound banking principles.
Nchocho said the funding represented a vote of confidence in the work being undertaken to grow the agricultural sector.
He added that the money came at the right time with the sector buckling under drought, and said the sector contracted 6 percent in 2015 and 7 percent last year.
“However, the sector is recovering with the rain in the second and third quarter last year. Crop farmers increased the area planted by 38 percent as a result,” Nchocho said.
This report by Sandile Mchunu is on page 16 of Business Report of 4 August 2017
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Roundup of labour news on Thursday, 3 August 2017
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In our Thursday roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that have appeared since
midday on Wednesday, 2 August 2017.
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Sibanye Gold job cuts plan could affect 7,400 employees Reuters reports that Sibanye Gold will be restructuring operations in its home market, a move that could affect 7,400 of its employees, the gold and platinum miner said on Thursday. Sibanye, which employs 58,000 people in South Africa, will start consultations with labour unions and government about the restructuring of its loss-making Beatrix West and Cooke operations, the company indicated in a statement. "Approximately 7,400 Sibanye employees at all levels may be affected as a result of the proposed restructuring," the producer said. This short report by TJ Strydom is at TimesLive. Read Sibanye’s press statement at Sharenet Zwane’s activation of mining licence moratorium shows disregard for mining crisis, says Chamber Miningmx reports that according to the Chamber of Mines SA (COM), the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) has implemented a moratorium on the granting of new prospecting and mining licences. The industry lobby group said that this action highlighted mines minister Mosebenzi Zwane’s disregard of the crisis in the country’s mining sector. “This moratorium will effectively freeze investment, prevent many companies from restructuring and may lead to even more job losses in the sector,” the COM said in a statement. Zwane apparently instructed his regional offices to stop processing Section 11 new mining right or prospecting right applications by mining companies after 19 July. The moratorium will also halt any changes of ownership of mining properties, which the COM said would “freeze investment”. Zwane’s action was also said to subvert his own notice in the Government Gazette of 18 July which followed the COM’s application to interdict the DMR’s earlier Mining Charter redraft and which called for interested parties to lodge comments on the proposed moratorium by 4 August. Read this report by David McKay in full at Miningmx. Read the Chamber’s press statement at SA Labour News. See too, Chamber of Mines accuses department of freezing all rights applications, at BusinessLive Amcu’s Mathunjwa calls on Zwane to stop ‘useless, senseless decisions’ In a telephonic interview with Moneyweb’s Warren Thompson, Joseph Mathunjwa, president of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), was asked about a number of the most important issues currently affecting the mining industry. These included the DMR’s review of the Mining Charter, the call by the National Union of Mineworkers for Minister Mosebenzi Zwane to step down and Zwane’s proposed moratorium on the issuing and transfer of mining licenses. Characterising the Charter as a code of good practice, Mathunjwa spoke about the need for a stakeholder engagement to set up the goals and the timeframes of how to achieve the goals. But, he advised that Amcu had not been consulted at all on the revision. Mathunjwa described the NUM’s call for Zwane to step down as opportunistic, but added that he was “not in favour of him”. This was particularly so as Zwane had “never done anything” to recover the bodies of the three Lily Mine workers. On the moratorium, Mathunjwa said that it would make matters worse because at the end of the day “we as the union will be facing job losses”. He called on Zwane “to stop these useless, senseless decisions that he is taking.” Mathunjwa also spoke about Riah Phiyega’s role at Marikana. Read a transcript of this interview, or listen to it, at Moneyweb Merger talks a ray of hope that Lily Mine will be reopened Business Report writes that Australian mining company Vantage Goldfields is involved in merger talks with the Canadian-listed Galane Gold in a bid to reopen the Lily Mine in Barberton, Mpumalanga Three mine workers remain missing after being trapped underground in a container at the mine. Business rescue practitioner Rob Devereux indicated on Wednesday that documents for the merger were "just about signed", which would pave the way for the embattled mine to resume operations. Once the merger is concluded, Galane would have 100 days to raise R200m through a placement on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The funds are expected to flow in October, with R130m to be allocated for the development of the mine, and the balance to be used to pay creditors and the outstanding salaries of employees. Vantage owns Lily and the Barbrook Mine, which were mothballed and placed in business rescue after they ran into financial difficulties in 2016. Lily Mine has honoured its commitments to the families of the three missing mineworkers, Yvonne Mnisi, Pretty Mabuza and Solomon Nyarenda, after they received R200,000 each. Read this report by Dineo Faku in full at Business Report Other labour/community posting(s) related to mining
Other general posting(s) related to mining
Relief in sight as strike in metals and engineering sector may be averted BusinessLive reports that a potential strike in the metal and engineering industries sector seems to have been averted, with trade unions and employers said to be edging closer to a deal. The majority of the employers in the sector and all trade unions will meet on Thursday to finalise details of a proposed settlement agreement that could see negotiations come to an end by next week. Johan van Niekerk of the United Association of SA (Uasa) said they were positive about the direction of the talks and added: "We are of the opinion that if the offer that was given to us provisionally is confirmed tomorrow [Thursday], then the wage negotiations might be over." But, Gerhard Papenfus, CEO of the National Employers Association of SA (Neasa), which has refrained from taking part in the current wage talks, said the agreement would be a "futile exercise" and indicated that the association would fight attempts for it to be extended to his members. Solidarity’s Marius Croucamp described as "problematic" the fact that some of the employer bodies were not prepared to engage with labour. Read this report by Theto Mahlakoana in full at BusinessLive
Nehawu and NHLS reach deal to end strike The New Age reports that the National Health Laboratory Services (NHLS) and the National Education Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) brokered a truce on Tuesday night following an acrimonious two-week strike that put the health of millions at risk. Nehawu’s spokesperson Khaya Xaba said the NHLS and the union agreed on a 7.3% wage hike and the phasing out of outsourcing. He stated that a ceasefire was brokered in the interest of averting a further crisis and added that they had initially wanted a wage increase of 14%, but revised it down to 7.3%. According to Xaba, an important aspect of the deal was that they agreed to phase out the outsourcing of workers. The union has taken a decision to suspend the national strike with immediate effect pending the finalisation of the settlement agreement. Meantime, Acting CEO of the NHLS, Shabir Madhi, said the cash-strapped organisation was owed an estimated R8bn by the Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal health departments and sunk deeper into debt as a result of outsourcing laboratory services during the duration of the strike. Read this report by Bonolo Selebano and Lerato Diale in full at The New Age. Read Nehawu’s press statement in this regard at Cosatu Today Hospersa strike at SANParks strike called off Traveller24 reports that SANParks stated on Thursday that "all their employees who embarked on a strike action and are members of Health and Other Service Personnel Trade Union of South Africa (Hospersa) are back at their posts". The union apparently wrote on Tuesday to SANParks formally announcing the unconditional end of the two-week strike action by its membership. SANParks Head of Communications Janine Raftopoulos said they were glad that the protected strike had ended and that those who had participated were back at work. She thanked all the SANParks employees who had ensured that day-to-day operations were not disrupted and also visitors for being patient during this period. A short report by Traveller24
CPUT agrees to insource workers following protests by students and workers GroundUp reports that following a week of student-worker protests that resulted in a two-day shutdown, Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) agreed to insource security guards and cleaning staff. The workers signed pre-contracts on 31 July which stated that they would be permanent employees of CPUT as of 1 January 2018. The pre-contract also stated that finalised contracts would be given to the workers by 31 August and their pay slips would be available on 25 August. At present, salaries are apparently paid directly into accounts without pay slips. The University Council also committed to monitoring the insourcing process more regularly. GroundUp asked CPUT management about the additional cost of insourcing, but the institution did not answer this question. Read this report by Zoe Postman GroundUp
SAA staff salaries may not be paid as broke airline teeters BusinessLive reports that with South African Airways (SAA) having run out of cash and being effectively bankrupt, it is feared it may not be able to pay salaries. According to a cash-flow analysis provided by the airline to MPs on Wednesday, the state-owned airline went into a negative cash position in July when it had a net cash outflow of R568m. It projects a further deterioration in the months ahead with net cash outflows of R936m forecast for August and R918m in September. A relative improvement to a negative cash flow of R134m is projected for October on the assumption that the airline gets financing and government support of R792m. Read this report by Linda Ensor and Sunita Menon at BusinessLive SAA faces a wage increase protest on Friday, even as it officially runs out of cash Fin24 reports that the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) and the SA Cabin Crew Association (Sacca) will march to South African Airways (SAA) on Friday over a request for pay increases. This will come just as the state-owned airline revealed that it has run out of cash, meaning the employees might not even get their basic salaries. The unions will marching to hand over a memorandum to SAA officials tabling their concerns, including the need for a wage increase. “SAA is … refusing to increase wages for the majority of workers, including the cabin crew, ground staff, cargo staff, and technical staff, but it is willing to continue paying out generous packages to the pilots, who are mostly white and male,” Numsa and Sacca said in a statement on Thursday. Numsa has lodged a dispute through the CCMA and mediation on these and other issues will apparently take place soon. “We hope to reach an agreement soon because if talks fail, then we may have to resort to a strike,” Numsa stated. Read this report by Matthew le Cordeur in full at Fin24
Annuitisation of provident fund benefits postponed again, this time to March 2019 Moneyweb reports that changes to the tax treatment of provident funds, introduced as part of broader retirement reforms in 2015 by National Treasury, have once again been postponed for further consultation. In terms of the proposed reforms, provident funds would be treated the same as pension and retirement annuity funds requiring the annuitisation of benefits. This has been met with resistance, specifically from trade unions. The change would mean that on retirement members of provident funds would only be permitted to take up to a third of the retirement benefit as a lump sum and the remaining benefits should be preserved. But this would only be for contributions made after the implementation date. The initial date for implementation was March 2016, which was postponed to March 2018 and will now most probably only be March 2019. The unions want to firstly understand how annuitisation will fit into the entire social security reform package, but discussions on this at Nedlac are still at a very early stage. Read this report by Amanda Visser in full at Moneyweb
Experts decry plan to consolidate or dissolve medical schemes with under 6,000 members BusinessLive reports that the plan by the Council for Medical Scheme (CSM) to consolidate or dissolve small medical schemes posed huge risks to the people who belonged to them and might force some to drop their cover entirely, industry sources warned this week. They also predicted that the move was likely to be met with legal and constitutional challenges. More than 228,000 people belonged to 31 medical schemes that had less than 6,000 members at the end of December 2015. All but three of them were restricted employer groups, and all were in sound financial health. Restricted employer group schemes generally subsidise members on low incomes, including pensioners, enabling them to buy cover they could not afford on the open market. The decision to consolidate the industry is in line with the government’s White Paper on National Health Insurance (NHI), published in June. Consolidation of the industry was necessary because fragmented risk pools were expensive, and limited the scope for cross-subsidisation, explained CMS acting registrar Sipho Kabane. Read this report by Tamar Kahn in full at BusinessLive
Damaged overhead wires delay Joburg commuter trains on Thursday ANA reports that Metrorail said on Thursday that morning commuter train services operating in Johannesburg were experiencing delays of up one hour following infrastructural challenges. Train 0841 damaged overhead wires at Jeppe Station, which resulted in a fibre break affecting Jeppe, Johannesburg, Braamfontein, Langlaagte, and Croesus control signal panels. Trains were delayed from Germiston to George Goch due to an overhead power failure. “Technicians are working hard around the clock to restore the service back to normal,” Gauteng Metrorail spokesperson, Lillian Mofokeng said. Commuters were advised where possible to use alternative transport to get to their destinations. A short report is at The Citizen Other internet posting(s) in this news category
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Roundup of labour news on Friday, 28 July 2017
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In our Friday roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that have appeared since
midday on Thursday, 27 June 2017.
Roundup of labour news on Thursday, 27 July 2017
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In our Thursday roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that have appeared since
midday on Wednesday, 26 June 2017.
Roundup of labour news on Wednesday, 26 July 2017
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In our Wednesday roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that have appeared since
midday on Tuesday, 25 June 2017.
Roundup of labour news on Tuesday, 25 July 2017
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In our Tuesday roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that have appeared since
midday on Monday, 24 June 2017.
Roundup of labour news on Monday, 24 July 2017
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In our Monday roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that have appeared since
midday on Friday, 21 June 2017.
Roundup of labour news on Thursday, 20 July 2017
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In our Thursday roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that have appeared since
midday on Wednesday, 19 June 2017.
Roundup of labour news on Wednesday, 19 July 2017
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In our Wednesday roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that have appeared since
midday on Tuesday, 18 June 2017.
Roundup of labour news on Monday, 17 July 2017
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In our Monday roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that have appeared since
midday on Friday, 14 June 2017.
Roundup of labour news on Thursday, 13 July 2017
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In our Thursday roundup, see summaries
of our selection of South African labour-
related stories that have appeared since
midday on Wednesday, 12 June 2017.
Still time to avert strike in metal industry – Saefa
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Business Report writes that the South African Engineers’ and Founders’ Association (Saefa) believes that the planned strikes by trade unions within the engineering sector were not the only option available to workers.
The association said although the unions had applied for a certificate to embark on a strike, this did not necessarily mean the strike was inevitable.
Saefa executive director Gordon Angus said yesterday: “The reality is that strike action will be extremely detrimental to employees and the sector as a whole, not to mention the additional pressure that it will bring to bear on the already tenuous economic situation in the country.”
Negotiations The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) and employers in the engineering sector are engaged in negotiations.
Numsa is demanding a 15 percent wage increase across the board based on the actual rate that a worker earns, not the minimum rate.
Employers want to increase wages in terms of the minimum rate instead of what a workers actually earns. Employers also want to implement a minimum rate of R20 an hour for new entrants to the sector, whereas the current minimum is R40.
Numsa has demanded “a two-year agreement” and “the extension of the agreement to non-parties, including employer associations such as the National Employers’ Association of South Africa and the Plastics Converters Association of South Africa that fall under the Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council”.
Saefa have appointed Jonathan Goldberg, a veteran of industry-level negotiations over wages and conditions of employment, as an independent lead negotiator to represent employers in the wage negotiations.
Angus pointed to Goldberg’s appointment, at Saefa’s expense, as a clear indication that the association and the more than 400 businesses it represents have a sincere desire to reach a solution that will prevent a strike, while setting a solid and realistic foundation on which the sector could build going forward.
Employers want to implement a minimum rate of R20 an hour for new entrants to the sector.
However, he pointed out that reaching such a solution required the same commitment by labour’s representatives to act in the best interests of all parties, particularly the financial well-being of the employees they represented.
“Offers presented by employers have been summarily dismissed by unions, indicating the absence of a sincere desire to reach a sustainable solution that benefits all parties,” Angus said, “but rather a predisposition by the union towards strike action.”
He pointed in particular to Numsa’s outright rejection of a proposal for a reduced entrylevel wage for new employees in the sector as indicating that the union was unwilling to find a solution that promoted the long-term sustainability of the sector.
“Saefa and the other employer representative associations have repeatedly assured employees that the proposed lower hourly wage – initially proposed at R20 per hour, the same level as the national minimum wage – is only for new, unskilled employees in the sector,” he said. “And that this will never be passed on to existing employed, trained and experienced workers.”
Worse conditions In a statement on its website, Numsa said that agreeing to this proposal would make conditions of employment worse. “Numsa rejects this offer with the contempt it deserves. We warned the ANC that the national minimum wage they had proposed would have disastrous consequences, but they arrogantly ignored us.”
Angus said the unions appeared unwilling to trust that the lower entry-level wage would not be passed on to existing employees, nor that it was intended to make it financially viable for the industry to provide further work opportunities and training to more South Africans.
“I am confident that, if the parties are willing to come to the table with an open mind, and have a willingness to consider all viewpoints and concerns, a solution can be found that avoids the potentially devastating conse quences of industrial action,” Angus said. “But agreeing on that solution will require a sincere commitment by the employers and the union to set aside any other agendas they may have and negotiate with the best interests – both current and future – of the entire industry in mind.”
The original of this report by Sizwe Dlamini is on page 20 of Business Report of 13 July 2017
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