Numsa Says It Will Strike if Its Double-Digit Wage Increase for the Automotive Industry Is Not Met

• The National Union of Metalworkers of SA wants a double-digit increase in the automotive industry
• The union is willing to go on strike if its requests are not met and believes that the industry should improved workers' lives
• If employers in the auto and motor industries do not give workers an increase, they will go on strike

JOHANNESBURG - The National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) wants an almost 20% wage increase in the automotive industry. The Automobile Manufacturers Employers Organisation (Ameo) and the union are still in the early stages of negotiations.

Numsa General Secretary Irvin Jim said it had had three sessions with Ameo. According to TimesLIVE, the organisation represents BMW SA, Toyota SA, VW SA, Mercedes-Benz, Ford, Isuzu, and Nissan.

The union said it is willing to go on strike if its requests are not met. Jim said workers want a double-digit increase between 10% and 20%. He said it would depend on how successfully Numsa is in terms of agreeing on a settlement wage.

Read also

UK 'jobs miracle' turns into employers' nightmare

Jim said the industry had not had a strike and it was about time that they improved workers' lives. He said there is a possibility that if employers in the auto and motor industries do not give workers an increase, they will go on strike. Jim said that the union will "wrestle" with the bosses.

However, Jim said a strike would be the last resort. Numsa President Andrew Chirwa told News24, that if employers do not listen, they will strike.

South Africans are appalled by the high wage demands:

Bongani Mnisi said:

"Our country needs to put a stop to this mayhem… I don't remember when unions have created any employment, but I'm sure that many employers and industries have either collapsed with many more growing reluctant to invest in SA because of their actions."

Read also

Government says it plans to create 2 million jobs by 2024 while clamping down on foreign nationals

Sothandokuhle Mbaleki Gwele commented:

"They are crazy, with low global demand, low production of Semiconductors and most major economies going into recession, where do they think the Automotive industry will get the money to pay a 20% increase."

Sy'mon Oupa Malapane wrote:

"Union leaders are no longer representing members, they're serving their own pockets."

Jose Alves added:

"The increase should be 100%, because, by 2030, there may be no motor industry left in SA, just like the multinationals abandoned Australia almost overnight."

Numsa: Thousands of members march in response to only 4% salary increase

In a related matter, Briefly News also reported the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa was aggrieved by only a 4% salary increase as opposed to the 8% they request and as a result, thousands of members converged on Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown on Tuesday, 5 October.

Similar marches were expected to happen in additional provinces such as the Northern Cape, the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.

Source: Briefly News