Members of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) staged another protest at Fortune Steels in Pretoriusstad on September 7, following the protest action during April after seven workers were injured when a gas bottle exploded in the smelter’s furnace.
Of the seven, two workers were left with critical injuries to the head, chest and arms and were treated at a hospital in Alberton. At the time, NUMSA acting national chairperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola said Fortune Steels management tried to cover up the incident by not alerting local authorities and using private vehicles to transport the injured workers to hospital.
NUMSA immediately demanded that the company fully comply with the South African Health and Safety Act and endeavored to negotiate certain terms with management, but reportedly to no avail.
NUMSA is accusing the company of flouting basic health and safety regulations and claims that the company has never complied with the labour law (Section 64 of Labour Relations Act of 1996).
“We demand an end to workplace exploitation, victimisation and intimidation,” Hlubi-Majola said.
During last week’s protests, NUMSA members demanded salary increases, medical benefits and normal 40 hour work weeks for all workers. According to NUMSA spokesperson Siyabonga Mbuqe, Fortune Steels management refuses to negotiate with the union and has rejected their demands and some disputes have meanwhile been referred to the CCMA.
“We will remain available should the company consider its position regarding our demands,” he said in a media statement.
Labour related issues are however, not the only concern. Shortly after firing up its furnaces for the first time in January 2017, air quality became a growing concern for people living and working around the factory in Pretoriusstad.
During May last year, the City of Ekurhuleni Air Quality/Noise Control officer requested the company for an update regarding the installation of abatement equipment, after air emission sampling showed that smoke emissions did not meet the prescribed requirements. Fortune Steels management responded by saying they have upgraded the smelter’s abatement system during June 2017 and that the smoke emissions problem had been addressed adequately.
Then another problem rear its ugly head – as more and more suppliers started delivering material to the smelter, road users started suffering financial losses as a result of severe tyre damage, which is caused by pieces of scrap metal in the road. To date, no countermeasures have been put in place by Fortune Steels to address the safety hazard and surrounding companies have now requested the City of Ekurhuleni to urgently intervene.
In response to HERAUT’s enquiry, Gaurav Bansal from Fortune Steels confirmed that some disputes remain unresolved and that Fortune steels is currently operating on limited staff.
“With regard to the ongoing strike action, we wish to reserve our comment until we are in a better position to do so. In regards to the scrap metal on the road, we have instructed all delivering trucks to refrain from overloading and to cover their loads. We would also like to appeal to the local traffic department to enforce the necessary road safety rules stringently on truck drivers not adhering to such rules,” Bansal said.
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