The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) launched a strike last week in an effort to seek pay rises. According to industry and union officials, the strike, with no definite end date, threatens to bottleneck the supply of auto parts that are critical to the production of new cars and accessories.
Using its power as the largest metalworkers union in South Africa, NUMSA has called for the total shutdown of engineering operations across the country. This comes after arbitration talks regarding the increase of wages reached a deadlock.
“We are left with no choice but to strike and to withhold our labour indefinitely until the bosses give into our just demands,” NUMSA declared in an official statement.
While industry body Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (SEIFSA) has offered a 4.4% hike for 2021, NUMSA is requesting an 8% wage rise across the entire engineering industry.
Mark Roberts, lead convenor at the Retail Motor Industry Association, explained that a prolonged strike will result in a supply shortage that will cripple an industry that has already been pummelled by the pandemic. In 2019, the South African automotive sector manufactured 631,983 vehicles, including the likes of BMW, Ford, and Nissan.
