Numsa rejects national minimum wage

THE National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) has rejected the R3 500 a month national minimum wage.

The proposal was presented to the National Economic Development and Labour Council by a panel of advisers on Sunday and publicly announced by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim said the union was disgusted by the mission of the ANC and Ramaphosa to legislate slave wages and maintain the exploitation of black labour under the disguise of a national minimum wage.

“Numsa is convinced that Ramaphosa is extremely dangerous‚ continually gunning for the blood of the working class and ready to evaporate the dream of a living national minimum wage‚” he said.

Jim also took aim at the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the Federation of Unions of South Africa‚ calling them “open collaborators with this right-wing agenda”.

“We are particularly angered by the fact that these federations have been participating in meetings where they debated a national minimum wage between R3 700 and R4 500.

“Quite frankly, these figures say it all – that both government and business have not been serious.

“We reject the stance of these federations, whose leaders are now going back to workers with insulting proposals and then pretending to be shocked with the R3 500 recommendation,” Jim said. – TMG Digital