The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) has officially served a notice of strike action in the metals and engineering sector.
The strike action will start at 05:00 on October 5 with a march in Gauteng, as well as potential marches in KwaZulu-Natal and Cape Town.
The Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa) says it will soon, on behalf of its affiliated associations, respond with a formal notice of lock-out in response to the strike. The lock-out notice will reserve the right of companies in the sector to implement a lock-out should they wish to do so.
Seifsa, meanwhile, through a duly appointed negotiating team continues to explore all possible settlement possibilities with organised labour in an endeavour to limit the damage industrial action will inflict on the sector.
"However, in light of the fact that the action on Tuesday next week will proceed, we once again urge all members to take all necessary precautions and plan for the worst case scenario which we will be doing our utmost to mitigate," it states.
There is concern in the industry about the economic cost of the planned strike.
Seifsa CEO Lucio Trentini last week told News24 that the previous four-week strike in the metals and engineering industry had cost the South African economy about R6-billion.