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Johannesburg - The 13% wage increase being sought by striking engineering workers is a matter of life and death, the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) said on Wednesday.
"We are not backing off on our current demand of 13%," said Free State regional secretary Andile Zitho.
Employers in the sector have offered 7%.
Zitho said that even 13% was not enough to cushion workers against increases in the costs of food, electricity, education, water, and fuel.
"The 13% is a matter of life and death," he said.
Zitho was responding to the Steel and Engineering Industries' Federation of SA (Seifsa) contention that it could not afford the wage increases.
"... The trade unions are demanding wage increases ranging from between 10% to 13%... and a variety of amendments to current employment conditions - all of a nature unaffordable by the Seifsa membership," executive director David Carson said in a statement on Tuesday.
Zitho said the comments were "ridiculous", and claimed that some senior managers were earning 20 times more than union members.
The strike started on Monday after the Labour Court's weekend dismissal of an application for an interdict to stop the strike, brought by the Plastic Converters' Association.
Several trade unions, representing about 170 000 workers, embarked on a countrywide strike, with a massive protest march in Johannesburg on Monday.
The Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) came out in support of the striking workers, saying that if their actions failed, it would mobilise solidarity action.
Numsa demands include a ban on labour brokers.
On Tuesday, Seifsa said it was focusing on problems including the "devastating effects" of the global recession on its members, escalating domestic input costs, high employment costs, limited available capital, a weak skills base, unreliable and expensive logistics and the high price of power.
It said import substitution had become "commonplace" and retrenchments had increased sharply since February.
"We are not backing off on our current demand of 13%," said Free State regional secretary Andile Zitho.
Employers in the sector have offered 7%.
Zitho said that even 13% was not enough to cushion workers against increases in the costs of food, electricity, education, water, and fuel.
"The 13% is a matter of life and death," he said.
Zitho was responding to the Steel and Engineering Industries' Federation of SA (Seifsa) contention that it could not afford the wage increases.
"... The trade unions are demanding wage increases ranging from between 10% to 13%... and a variety of amendments to current employment conditions - all of a nature unaffordable by the Seifsa membership," executive director David Carson said in a statement on Tuesday.
Zitho said the comments were "ridiculous", and claimed that some senior managers were earning 20 times more than union members.
The strike started on Monday after the Labour Court's weekend dismissal of an application for an interdict to stop the strike, brought by the Plastic Converters' Association.
Several trade unions, representing about 170 000 workers, embarked on a countrywide strike, with a massive protest march in Johannesburg on Monday.
The Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) came out in support of the striking workers, saying that if their actions failed, it would mobilise solidarity action.
Numsa demands include a ban on labour brokers.
On Tuesday, Seifsa said it was focusing on problems including the "devastating effects" of the global recession on its members, escalating domestic input costs, high employment costs, limited available capital, a weak skills base, unreliable and expensive logistics and the high price of power.
It said import substitution had become "commonplace" and retrenchments had increased sharply since February.
