Watershed moment for SA steel, engineering

LABOUR and employers in the steel and engineering sector have hailed a “watershed moment” in the industry after the Labour Court dismissed an application by opposing employer organisations to have a harmonisation of entry level wages in the sector at R78 per hour.

Standing shoulder to shoulder yesterday were the Steel and Engineering Federation of SA (Seifsa), the National Union of Metalworkers of SA, Plastic Convertors’ Association of SA (Pcasa), trade Union Solidarity, Metals and Electrical Workers Union of SA (Mewusa), Uasa and SA Equity Workers Association (Saewa) hailed the agreement by the Metals and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council (Meibc), which had requested the Minister of Employment and Labour to extend the Seifsa/Numsa Main Agreement to all non-parties in the Industry, including plastics recyclers.

The National Employers Association of SA (Neasa) and the SA Engineers and Founders Association (Saefa) filed an urgent application in the Labour Court requesting the court to interdict the Minister from processing the request until such time as the validity of the request to the Minister has been determined by the court.

The Labour Court dismissed the application at the end of last month.

Employers that have operated outside of the collective bargaining arena would have an opportunity to apply for a phase-in exemption, which involves them paying 60 percent of the 2020 rate, which amounts to R29.73 an hour, or about R5 000 a month, to all general labourers by June 30, 2024.

Seifsa chief executive Lucio Trentini said centralised, collective bargaining was the way forward and that the main agreement was about extending the minimum conditions of employment to all employees operating in the metals and engineering industry.

“This is an unprecedented arrangement to create a level playing field in the sector, which is in its best interest, for the first time in 30 years, employers are allowed to grant increases on a rand and cents amount calculated on the minimum gazetted rates for each grade of employee,” Trentini said.

Neasa and Saefa had sought to halt the extension of the Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council’s main agreement to non-parties, and instead wanted each employer to use its own discretion about how much it could afford to pay employees.

“If the Minister of Labour extends this agreement, it will result in SMMEs having to pay an entry-level employee, with no experience or training, a cost-to-company wage of R78 per hour, unless the employer can convince a ‘committee’ to grant an exemption on the basis that the business is financially in dire straits,” Neasa said.

Saefa and Neasa were minorities among 19 employer organisations, and represent about 25 percent of employees affiliated with employer organisations on the bargaining council in a sector that employs 217 000 workers.

“There could have been unfair competition if employers compete on the basis of cheap labour, this agreement will allow workers who have been ravaged by inflationary pressures some relief,” Numsa’s Irvin Jim said.

The groups said the next move was for the Minister of Labour Thulas Nxesi to gazette the agreement. Uasa operational manager Rick Grobler, Mewusa deputy general secretary Peter Madigoe and Saewa national co-ordinator Trevor Lejoane all agreed that competitiveness could be balanced with socio-economic needs and that central bargaining ensured that no employee was extorted or abused.