CONTRACTORS END THREE-WEEK STRIKE
Employers and unions strike deal that will remain operational for three years
THE STRIKE by civil engineering contractors’ employees – dubbed the construction workers’ strike – is over.
This was announced last night bythe SA Federation of Civil Engineering Contractors (Safcec), which represents the employers in the civil engineering contracting industry.
The strike began on August 26 after talks failed with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the Building Construction and Allied Workers Union (BCAWU).
Within days the employers’ organisation and BCAWUannounced they had struck a deal, that would remain operational until August 31, 2016.
“The accepted offer allows for a 10 percent wage increase for categories Task Grades 1 to 4, and an 8 percent wage increase for categories Task Grades 5 to 9. In addition, severance benefits for the industry were also improved,” the employers reported. And yesterday Safcec announced NUM had accepted an offer too.
“The Safcec offer accepted by NUM will allow for a wage increase of 10 percent for employees in Task Grades 1 to 4 and 9 percent for employees in Task Grades 5 to 9.
“An interim wage adjustment, effective March 2014, of between 1.45 percent and 2.14 percent, will be granted to employees in Task Grades 1 to 4.
“In year two of the agreement employees will be granted a wage increase of 10 percent in Task Grades 1 to 4 and 9 percent in Task Grades 5 to 9 effective September 2014,” Safcec reported.
The deal was formally signed and will remain in place for two years.
While the labour dispute did not involve the building industry as such, many construction sites have been affected in their entirety by the civil engineering workers’ protest action.
“We can’t get on site, because they’re intimidating our guys.
“Our guys have to leave site – there are guys going crazy there,” one contractor told the Cape Argus a fortnight ago.
“There are mobs forcing everyone to stop so they get their increases.”
NUM and BCAWU were initially demanding a 40 percent increase on the total cost of employment for entry rate Task Grade 1, while employers were offering 7.5 percent.