Numsa demands a ‘living wage’
MARSHALLTOWN – Thousands of striking National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) members marched to the Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council’s offices in Marshalltown.
About 220 000 Numsa workers, which is about half of those employed in the industry, have embarked on an indefinite strike in the metal and engineering sectors for a 12 percent wage increase. This follows a five-month strike in the platinum sector, which is said to have crippled the economy.
Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi was well received, members chanted his name and pushed to shake his hand as he arrived, “A demand for a living wage is political, because it is politics that allowed such conditions 20 years into a democracy,” he said.
Vavi said the country did not have a good story while workers earned slave wages. “The Freedom Charter says the wealth of the country shall be shared by all… we are here to demand our share from the country’s economy,” he said to a thunderous applause.
A memorandum of demands was handed over to officials from the Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council, and Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of SA (Seifsa). The memorandum demanded a 12percent increase, a ban on labour brokers, a R1000 housing allowance and the abolishment of the Employment Incentive Act, among other demands.
In June, Seifsa CEO, Kaizer Nyatsumba said the industry could not afford a strike. Employers were given 48 hours to respond to the demands and return to the negotiating table with a “commitment to a double digit wage offer.”
Vavi said, ” Cosatu was going to be turned from a militant union to a sweetheart for those in power.” He thanked Numsa for supporting him, “when the hyenas came for me,” during his suspension from Cosatu.
