Solidarity denounces closure of AMSA’s Saldanha plant
The union assured its members at AMSA that it would do everything in its power to protect their interests during the ensuing processes.
Solidarity today announced that it would address a letter to government and to ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) after having instructed its Research Institute to conduct a comprehensive study on the impact of the closure of AMSA’s steel plant in Saldanha.
This comes after AMSA today announced that 900 people would be retrenched by the first quarter of 2020 when AMSA closes its steel plant in Saldanha in the Western Cape.
“Solidarity is shocked by the announcement. We are aware of the fact that AMSA is facing major challenges in Saldanha with high input costs, a declining export market and government’s economic policies, but such a drastic step gives rise to major concerns,” says Willie Venter, Solidarity’s Deputy General Secretary for the Metal and Engineering Industry.
As a result of more expensive raw materials, price regulation such as power tariffs and a decrease in demand AMSA’s Saldanha plant cannot sustainably participate in export markets any longer. “National government simply has to revise its economic policy even more urgently to stop the rise in job losses,” Venter said.
Venter furthermore contends that the real impact on the Saldanha community and the Western Cape would be huge, with thousands more being negatively affected by the closure. The closure could have catastrophic consequences for local communities given that AMSA’s Saldanha plant is the area’s largest employer.
Solidarity says it is also concerned that the closure of AMSA’s Saldanha plant is only the first step in its footprint exercise, and that there is also uncertainty about the future of the Newcastle plant.
Solidarity assured its members at AMSA that it would do everything in its power to protect their interests during the ensuing processes.
