Share

Neasa in court over wage agreement

Johannesburg - The National Employers' Association of SA (Neasa) lodged an urgent application in the Labour Court on Thursday to stop the extension of the metals industry wage agreement to non-signatories, it said.

Neasa wants the court to prevent the Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council (MEIBC) from asking the labour minister to extend the July 2014 agreement between the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of SA (Seifsa) and trade unions to those who were not party to that agreement.

Neasa wanted the Labour Court to declare the management committee, appointed by MEIBC's annual general meeting invalid and that all decisions taken by the committee relating to the extension also be declared invalid.

Neasa chief executive Gerhard Papenfus said when the agreement was signed Seifsa's chief executive admitted that his organisation had reluctantly agreed and that it would lead to job losses.

Now Seifsa, with the help of the National Union of Metalworkers of SA, MEIBC, and the department were attempting to extend the agreement.

"This is simply ludicrous. We owe it to the metal industry to prevent this from happening," said Papenfus.

This followed a strike in the metals industry which started on July 1 and lasted four weeks.

Seifsa signed the agreement on July 29 on behalf of the 24 federated associations and two associations were still involved in internal mandating processes.

In terms of the three-year agreement workers would get increases of between eight and 10 percent in the first year, 7.5% and 10% in the second year, and seven to 10% in the third year.

Neasa announced it would lock out union members who participated in the strike because its demands had not been considered during the wage negotiations.

Neasa members wanted a standardised entry-level wage and a revamped exemptions policy. It has offered an eight percent across-the-board salary increase.

Earlier this month, Numsa's Labour Court application to declare Neasa's lock-out of employees illegal, was dismissed with costs.

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Rand - Dollar
18.96
-0.3%
Rand - Pound
23.95
-0.2%
Rand - Euro
20.48
-0.1%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.36
-0.1%
Rand - Yen
0.13
-0.4%
Platinum
911.60
+1.6%
Palladium
1,012.97
+1.1%
Gold
2,216.03
+1.0%
Silver
24.89
+1.0%
Brent Crude
86.09
-0.2%
Top 40
68,346
+1.0%
All Share
74,536
+0.9%
Resource 10
57,251
+2.9%
Industrial 25
103,936
+0.6%
Financial 15
16,502
-0.1%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Company Snapshot
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE
Government tenders

Find public sector tender opportunities in South Africa here.

Government tenders
This portal provides access to information on all tenders made by all public sector organisations in all spheres of government.
Browse tenders