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Trade unions, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, Solidarity and Uasa on Wednesday threatened to start mass pickets and demonstrations to defend jobs and highlight “the brutal plight” faced by workers in South Africa’s industry.
This followed a bilateral meeting with steel industry CEOs and employer bodies, led by Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim in Johannesburg on Tuesday, where the “looming jobs loss bloodbath in this strategic sector of our economy” was discussed.
The unions said those present at the meeting agreed that the pending job losses would have a “devastating impact” on local communities, as close to 75% of working class and poor households in the Vaal and Newcastle areas depended on the steel industry for their survival and livelihoods.
The unions noted that the looming job losses in the steel industry were going to be far greater than that of the mining industry.
They further highlighted that the meeting was open and frank and that they appreciated the fruitful deliberations and joint commitments to save jobs.
“The meeting provided a solid base for all the parties to solicit and develop a shared understanding of the crisis and find common approaches to be explored with the intention of lobbying government for necessary and decisive intervention,” the unions said.
A task team, comprising representatives from labour and industry, has been set up to develop a detailed submission and concrete proposals to be tabled with government and a number of meetings have been planned with all industry players.