Solidarity metal industry head Marius Croucamp
Trade union Solidarity on Wednesday announced that it had reached a wage agreement with steel producer ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA), comprising a 7% wage increase and other favourable changes to workers’ terms of employment.
The agreement, which was retroactive to April 1, 2014, and would be in effect until March 31, 2015, also applied to members of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa.
The agreement that had been reached after five rounds of negotiations, applied to AMSA employees based at the company’s branches in Pretoria, Durban, Vanderbijlpark, Newcastle, Vereeniging and Saldanha, who formed a part of the bargaining unit.
In terms of the agreement, various employee allowances, such as medical, shift and standby allowances, would also be increased by 7%.
Moreover, employees who were on standby on public holidays would now also receive a noncompulsory day of leave – whether they were called out on the days in question or not.
“Solidarity and its members are satisfied with the positive note on which the negotiations ended. We are also intensely aware of the challenges confronting the metal industry,” Solidarity metal industry head Marius Croucamp said, noting that the negotiations with the Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council coincided with a great deal of uncertainty for employees and trade unions.
Therefore, this agreement was a “welcome ray of light for both employees and trade unions, given the turbulent economy and labour market”, he said.
Solidarity represented 3 000 employees, or one-third of AMSA’s workforce in South Africa.