Impending strike could lead to more retrenchments in steel industry, Solidarity warns

17th July 2017

By: Anine Kilian

Contributing Editor Online

     

Font size: - +

Trade union Solidarity on Monday said the impending strike in the steel industry would have a negative impact, both on the domestic steel industry and the country’s economy, as well as on job opportunities in the sector.

This comes after the South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) earlier pledged its support to the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) as far as Numsa’s planned strike action in the metals and engineering industry is concerned.

According to Solidarity metals and engineering industry director-general Marius Croucamp, the impending strike is a consequence of a lack of commitment from employers and trade unions alike to find a solution to the wage dispute.

“Earlier, Solidarity expressed its willingness to enter into bilateral talks with employer organisations, but only a handful of organisations showed an inclination to negotiate further,” Croucamp explained in a statement.

Meanwhile, Solidarity said it received a retrenchment notice from the Macsteel Group stating that it intends to reduce its workforce by around 310 people.

Croucamp noted that the ongoing crisis in the wage negotiations could lead to even more retrenchments.

“Urgent action is called for to ensure that as many jobs as possible are retained in the industry. We are afraid that a prolonged strike would have the opposite effect,” he said.

Edited by Chanel de Bruyn
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

Comments

The content you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION