Rather than being a prominent job creator and driver of the South African economy, employer organisation for the metals sector the National Employers' Association of South Africa (Neasa) says the local metals industry has become a liability for the country, characterised by a divided employer base and hostile labour relations.

Neasa CEO Gerhard Papenfus said on Thursday that a model of “self-[destructive] negotiations” was “once again” in play during the latest round of wage negotiation between employers and labour.

The standoff between the union and majority employer body the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa) continued as the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) reiterated its demands of a one-year bargaining agreement comprising a 15% across-the-board wage hike and doing away with labour brokers, in addition to a R1 000 housing allowance.

But Seifsa remained steadfast in its offer of an up to 10% wage increase, which had seen Numsa’s 220 000-strong sector membership embarking on a violent industry-wide strike, now in its tenth day.

Labour union pressures remained further exacerbated by discord between counterparts Seifsa and Neasa, with Neasa accusing the larger employer body of setting unrealistic expectations and upping wage offers to thresholds that were unachievable for smaller manufacturers.

Neasa had already indicated that they would challenge in court any deal between Numsa and Seifsa if any attempt was made to enforce such a deal upon Neasa by Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant.

“Employers bowing to the unlawful violence and intimidation are creating a bleak future for themselves. The repeated surrendering to unlawful action has created a metal industry in self-destruction mode, an industry on a downward slope.

“We are now paying dearly for those cosy deals between weak employer representatives, big business and big trade unions, over decades, which has brought a once-mighty industry to the brink of destruction,” Papenfus said in a strongly worded statement.

He added that the “big” employers – represented by Seifsa – were pushing for a deal at all costs.

“These are the same big businesses who unashamedly say that they will be satisfied with an unaffordable deal [that will see them] introduciemeasures afterwards that will result in retrenchments and mechanisation.

“They are the employers now forcing a deal, which they eventually, through the help of Oliphant, will attempt to enforce on struggling small businesses, who do not have the same operational capacity,” Papenfus asserted.

The Neasa had further appealed to big business to bear in mind the interests of smaller players in the industry when agreeing to a deal with Numsa, adding that there rested an obligation on the representatives of employer organisations to canvas the views of smaller employers within their ranks prior to agreeing to a deal.

Neasa meanwhile challenged Numsa to “show its real strength” by ensuring that the ongoing strike was conducted peacefully.