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Johannesburg - The Congress of SA Trade Unions' (Cosatu's) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi received a tumultuous welcome from striking metalworkers in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
The thousands of strikers shouted "Vavi, Vavi!" and scrambled to shake hands with him outside the Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council's (MEIBC) offices in central Johannesburg.
Police and marshals had their hands full as marchers pushed each other aside trying to get to Vavi.
Majority union in the sector, the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) supported Vavi during his suspension by Cosatu.
Numsa took the matter to court and successfully fought against the suspension. Vavi was subsequently reinstated.
Vavi on Tuesday thanked Numsa for supporting him during his suspension from the labour federation.
"I thank Numsa for the support when the hyenas came for me," he told thousands of striking metalworkers in Johannesburg.
He said Numsa stood its ground and refused to be manipulated.
"Cosatu was going to be turned from a militant union to a sweetheart for those in power," he said to thunderous applause from striking workers.
Workers wanted a Cosatu that did not look down, but spoke out to those in power.
"Another important fact is that Numsa never said it wanted out of Cosatu... that is a lie."
Numsa's demand for a 12 percent wage increase was a compromise, he said.
Vavi is expected to address the workers and hand over a memorandum to MEIBC officials.
About 220 000 metalworkers began an indefinite strike on Tuesday for a double-digit wage increase. Marches were being held in Cape Town, George, Durban, Port Elizabeth, and East London.
Call for support
Cosatu also issued a statement on Tuesday calling on all affiliates to support the strike.
Numsa wants a 12% salary increase, the scrapping of labour brokers, and a one-year bargaining agreement.
Employers have tabled a three-year wage settlement offer of between 7-8% for different levels of workers in the first year, and CPI-linked increases for 2015 and 2016.
Cosatu described Numsa's demands as reasonable and called on its affiliates to back the strike.
"We agree with Numsa's determination that they are not going to be intimidated by all those who represent the class interest of business and big capital," Cosatu said in its statement.
