Numsa rejects new wage offer

Members of the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (NUMSA) protest on the streets of Durban.

Numsa has rejected a new offer by the metals and engineering industries' biggest employers' organisation, the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of SA (Seifsa) said on Friday.

The National Union of Metalworkers of SA could not immediately be reached for confirmation.
Seifsa said in a statement that during Thursday's meeting with the union it tabled an offer which it believed could have ended the strike.
The federation tabled a three-year wage offer of between eight and 10% for different levels of workers in the first year.


In 2015 and 2016, the first category of worker was offered seven percent, while the others were offered nine percent in the second year, and eight percent in the final year.
Seifsa CEO Kaizer Nyatsumba said the federation was deeply disappointed that the offer was not accepted, as it was the "very best" that could be made under the present economic circumstances.

The previous offer was a three-year deal of between seven and eight percent for different levels of workers in the first year, and CPI-linked increases for 2015 and 2016.
Numsa wanted a one-year bargaining agreement, including a 15% wage increase, a R1000 housing allowance, and the scrapping of labour brokers.

The employers' organisation, representing 27 independent employer associations with a total membership of over 2000 companies, also scrapped its demand for the wages of new entry-level workers to be halved.
Nyatsumba said: "Regrettably... it would appear that we continue to be miles apart with the union as a result, among other things, of patently political demands about which we can do nothing."

Source- Times