Motor Industry Bargaining Council (Mibco) general secretary Tom Mkhwanazi said on Tuesday that he “was positive” that the motor industry would “avoid a strike this year”.

“I think parties will get to the point where they will say it is not to the benefit of employers or employees, looking at the country’s economy and the situation we found ourselves in.”

Mkhwanazi spoke at a media round table in Johannesburg, ahead of the third round of negotiations between motor industry employers and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) next week.

Mibco facilitated wage negotiations in the motor retail, service station, service and repair and component manufacturing industries, among others, and acted as an impartial party.

Mibco negotiations ran separately from negotiations between Numsa and vehicle assemblers, which were set to kick off this week. A third, separate negotiation process discussed wages in the tyre manufacturing industry and was reportedly also under way.

The automotive industry, as a collective, faced 34 days of strikes in 2013 as Numsa and various employer parties thrashed out a three-year wage deal. This year sees an end to these wage agreements.

Working out a new three-year deal could prove difficult.

Mkhwanazi said Numsa wanted to realign the negotiation process and include the component industry in the assembly industry negotiation process, while the union also wanted wage negotiations with oil refineries and distributors to move to the Mibco process.

However, the automotive industry appeared less positive about such as a move, as it would group big multinational oil refineries with small dealerships or repair shops, for example.

The argument was that these companies had different needs, noted Mkhwanazi.

Numsa also wanted a one-year wage agreement, instead of a three-year wage agreement, to allow for the realignment process to be completed, he added.

Wage demands from Numsa at Mibco included a 20% wage increase, medical aid benefits where the employer contributed 80% and the employee 20%, and a R5 000 housing subsidy.

Employee organisations, such as the Retail Motor Industry organisation and Fuel Retailers’ Association had not yet placed any counteroffer on the table, said Mkhwanazi.

Numsa was currently the only union at the negotiating table at Mibco, with other unions requiring 5% employee or employer numbers, as well as a nationwide presence, before being allowed to participate.

MODEL NEEDS REFINING
The process of collective bargaining was not always one of “one size fits all”, said Mkhwanazi.

This was why Mibco had initiated an International Labour Organisation-funded research project to look at ways in which the model “could be refined”.

The research should be completed by the end of the year.

Mkhwanazi was positive that it would be able to “help negotiations going forward”, as it focused on how to best accommodate the needs of very diverse parties within the negotiating process.

“The needs of employees are different than what they were ten years ago,” he added.