Motor industry strike can be avoided
The general secretary of the Motor Industry Bargaining Council believes that employers and unions will find common ground and avoid a strike this year.
|||Johannesburg - The general secretary of the Motor Industry Bargaining Council believes that employers and unions will find common ground and avoid a strike this year.
General secretary Tom Mkhwanazi told reporters in Johannesburg that in the current economic climate a strike would be inadvisable.
“In the last two negotiations we have had strikes. I am not sure whether unions and employers in the current situation we find ourselves as a country they would want to go on strike,” said Mkhwanazi.
The current wage agreement between parties at the council expires in August, with fresh negotiations currently underway.
The National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) is asking for a 20% wage increase, a one-year agreement, 80%/ 20% for medical aid and a R5 000 housing subsidy.
While employers were yet to present a counter offer, Mkhwanazi remained upbeat.
“I am positive that we can avoid a strike, I think parties will get to a point where they sit around a table and say you know it’s not to the benefit of both parties,” said Mkhwanazi.
The last time the motor industry was rocked by strike was in 2013 when Numsa declared a dispute over wage negotiations.
Another bone of contention for the country’s biggest union is the creation of a mega-bargaining council which would include the manufacturing and refinery sectors which are currently not part of Mibco.
Mkhwanazi also shared his concerns on the current model of bargaining councils, and said the Mibco was conducting research with the International Labour Organisation on restructuring the current model.
Labour Bureau