Numsa threatens strike over Easter weekend if demands aren’t met

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) has threatened strike action during Easter weekend should their demands fall on deaf ears.

The union revealed on Monday that it had been trying to negotiate since January through the South African Road Passenger Bargaining Council (Sarpbac), but has been continuously refused a “meaningful” salary increase.

Medical insurance

Numsa issued a statement revealing that the employers, who are represented by South African Bus Employers Association ( Sabea) and the Commuters Bus Employers Organisation (Cobeo), are provoking the strike.

“We have been trying to negotiate with The issue which has triggered the strike, is that the employer refuses to negotiate health insurance benefits. Workers in the sector do not have any kind of medical aid or medical insurance at all,” said Phakamile Hlubi-Majola, Numsa spokesperson.

Hlubi-Majola said the union has obtained a certificate to strike and if their complaints are not attended to, the union will then resort to a full blown strike during the Easter weekend.

Demands

Some of Numsa’s demands include:

• Two year agreement from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2025
• 7% increase for year one and year two on the minimum wage
• All employees will receive 7% increase on all allowances for two years
• On the demand for health insurance, or (primary healthcare as it is referred to in the proposed agreement), the employers want that issue to be dealt with at company or plant level, and not to negotiate it at the National Bargaining Forum (NBF).

Engagement

“We wish to state upfront that the mediators proposal does not reflect the position of the majority of unions. Numsa is the majority union in the bus passenger sector, and we did not endorse the proposal. However, despite our misgivings about how this was done, we welcome the opportunity to engage the proposal and hope that we can make adjustments to some of the proposal so that it comes closer to meeting some of our demands.

“Both employers made an offer directly to employees of 6% increase for 3 years. This proposal is conditional upon workers dropping the demand for medical insurance. Employers did not table it at the NBF which is the formally recognized structure for negotiations. This is because they do not respect centralized bargaining and they have undermined the NBF at every turn. For this they must be condemned, and we have rejected their proposal,” said Hlubi-Majola

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Affordability

Hluni-Majola also emphasised that medical insurance is a life and death matter for the union’s members.

She said the lowest paid workers earned on average about R7,800 per month, which is why medical aid was unaffordable.

“It is a well-known fact that public hospitals and clinics are collapsing and this is why we are demanding medical aid. Hospitals and clinics are drastically short staffed and under resourced therefore, workers want to be able to access private healthcare. If this issue is deferred to the plants, it means the likelihood of the majority of workers achieving this benefit is very low. Most companies will refuse to grant the benefit and this is why we want this matter to be resolved in this round of negotiations, at a national level.”

“We have proposed an urgent meeting with employers, preferably within the next 48 hours. The ball is in their court if they wish to avert a disaster,” she concluded.

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