Johannesburg - The strike in the petrol and motor retail industry continued into its ninth day on Tuesday after talks aimed at resolving it collapsed.
National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) spokesperson Castro Ngobese said that the negotiations with employers yielded no results on Monday evening.
"The talks collapsed last night. The strike is continuing," he said.
Chief executive of the Retail Motor Industry organisation (RMI) Jakkie Olivier said no agreement was reached in the negotiations on Monday night.
The talks would not resume on Tuesday, he said.
The union has demanded a R30 an hour across the board increase by 2016 on actual rates of pay in all sectors and divisions for workers earning above R6 000 a month.
Petrol attendants and car repair workers embarked on the nation-wide strike last Monday.
On Tuesday morning, a petrol attendant was seriously injured in an altercation, believed to be related to the strike, in New Germany, KwaZulu-Natal, paramedics said.
"The man, who is believed to have been working in plain clothes, is believed to have been involved in an altercation with an unknown party," ER24 spokesperson Vanessa Jackson said.
The man was taken to hospital with a serious head injury.
Eye witnesses said that the assault could have been linked to the Numsa strike, she said.
Police could not immediately be reached for verification of the incident.
Numsa KwaZulu-Natal regional secretary Mbuso Ngubane said he could not comment on the New Germany assault, as he had not heard about it.
On Thursday he said the union had rejected a revised wage offer of 7.5%.
Numsa has demanded a double-digit percentage increase.