Roy Cokayne
The spectre of a strike in the automotive industry has been raised with the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) declaring a dispute with the retail motor industry over a new agreement on wages and conditions of service.
A union official confirmed yesterday that the parties were “far apart”.
An industry authority agreed there was a “really wide divide”, although there was optimism that common ground could be reached.
The retail motor industry has an estimated 350 000 employees in businesses such as dealerships, panel shops, car parts retailers, engine remanufacturers and tyre dealers.
Jakkie Olivier, the chief executive designate of the Retail Motor Industry Organisation and the sector’s chief negotiator at the motor industry bargaining council (Mibco), confirmed yesterday that Numsa had said on Friday the negotiations had deadlocked and it was declaring a dispute.
Olivier stressed the deadlock and dispute related only to the retail motor industry and excluded the automotive component manufacturing sector, which was in another of the bargaining forums in Mibco.
Mphumzi Maqungo, the national treasurer of Numsa, said it had declared a dispute because employers had not responded to union demands.
Maqungo, who said the parties were “far apart from each other”, confirmed that Numsa was still involved in negotiations in all other sectors of the automotive industry, including the vehicle manufacturing, automotive component manufacturing and tyre sectors.
Olivier said a dispute meeting must take place within two weeks of a dispute being declared. Thereafter, compulsory mediation would begin.
If the mediation was unsuccessful, the union could follow the remedies contained in the Labour Relations Act, including giving employers 48 hours’ notice of industrial action.
“Hopefully, through a constructive dispute meeting and mediation, the parties are able to focus and resolve the issues,” Olivier said.
The industry had appealed to Numsa to modify its demands to “more realistic settlement areas”.
Olivier said employers were concerned that the union was in dispute mode so early in the process and had not given time for the issues to be resolved.
He said Numsa’s demands ranged from 100 percent wage increases for lower-paid workers to above 20 percent for workers at the higher grades.
Olivier said the employers had tabled a wage increase offer related to the consumer price index of 5.9 percent for the retail motor industry and 5 percent for the component manufacturing industry.
Maqungo said Numsa’s demands at Mibco included an industry minimum wage of at least R6 000 a month for first-time employees and a R30-an-hour increase for workers currently earning more than R6 000 a month.
Numsa was also demanding a 100 percent transport allowance for workers who finished work after 6pm, the banning of labour brokers and a one-year agreement, he said.
Olivier said the industry had for the past few years entered into multi-year agreements, with the previous three-year agreements creating much-needed stability.
He said Numsa was pushing for a one-year agreement, to expire at the end of June. This would align the expiry of the agreement with similar agreements in the vehicle manufacturing and tyre sectors, where Numsa was also involved.
This meant it was negotiating a nine-month agreement, which would have an impact over and above the wage demands Numsa had made.
