Numsa aims for 20% wage hike

Johannesburg - The National Union of Metalworkers (Numsa) is planning to demand wage increases of 20% for its more than 234 000 members in various sectors this year.

On Wednesday the national bargaining council for Numsa, trade federation Cosatu's largest affiliated union after the National Union of Mineworkers, concluded a three-day meeting in Johannesburg.

The 20% demand is coupled to a demand that the minimum wage in the motor manufacturing sector be pegged at R24 per hour. This would merely restore the purchasing power of wages to the 2007 level, says the union.

Numsa has also undertaken to involve government in Anglo American's planned unbundling of Scaw Metals.

Scaw plays an important role in adding value within the sector, said Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim. The union has an interest in whoever the buyer may be, he asserted.

Numsa is also insisting on strong intervention in the dispute between Kumba Iron Ore and ArcelorMittal South Africa.

Jim claims that the department of trade and industry is shirking responsibility.

But on Tuesday the department indicated that it could act against ArcelorMittal over its proposed new price increases as Kumba had stopped supplying dirt cheap iron ore.

According to Jim, government should have intervened at the outset and not permitted the dispute to be settled in private arbitration between the two companies.

A jump in the steel price is bad news for many small steel consumers that employ Numsa members, says Jim.

The pressure on ArcelorMittal's cost structure is already threatening the jobs of about 2 500 Numsa members at the steel giant, he explains.

- Sake24.com

For business news in Afrikaans, go to Sake24.com.