Numsa gears up for strike at Samancor Chrome
Numsa is waiting for the strike certificate to be issued and in the meantime is mobilising members for a total shut down of all smelters at Samancor
The National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) said it is gearing up for a strike at Samancor Chrome, one of the world’s leading producers of ferrochrome, over its demand for a 15% across-the-board wage demand. The employer is offering 6%.
Numsa, the country’s largest union with more than 400,000 members, has lodged a wage dispute at the Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council , a forum for parties to discuss wages and conditions of employment.
“We are waiting for the strike certificate to be issued. In the meantime we will be mobilising our members for a total shut down of all smelters at Samancor,” Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim said in a statement.
“We remain open to negotiations if they [management] want to talk and engage us in a meaningful manner so that we do not have to resort to strike action.”
Strike action could disrupt supply chain processes in the steel sector — which contributes about 1.5% of GDP and employs about 200,000 people — as ferrochrome is used in different areas of the stainless steel smelting process.
Samancor, which mines and smelts chrome ore, describes itself as the largest integrated ferrochrome producer in the world, churning out 2.4-million metric tons (Mt) of ferrochrome a year. The company says it sells more than 0.5-million Mt of chrome ore per annum on the local and export market.
However, SA’s share of global ferrochrome accounts for about 27%, down from 39% recorded in 2019, due to lower ferrochrome prices and increased production and competition from China.
In the statement, Jim accused Samancor of failing to negotiate in good faith as the union had submitted its demands in April, but the employer “did not respond and did not table dates for negotiations, which is the standard practice”.
“They were silent and they then later dangled the carrot of 6% [wage offer] directly to members and did not table it formally inside the negotiation forum. They took it members, and it was accepted by Solidarity and NUM [National Union of Mineworkers].”
Solidarity sector coordinator Cornelius van Leeuwen told Business Day: “We didn’t go to wage negotiations at Samancor. What happened is that Samancor made an offer of 6%, they said if workers don’t accept, then we can submit our demands and negotiate. We took the offer to our members and they accepted it.”
In 2021, cash-strapped power utility Eskom unilaterally implemented a 1.5% wage increase, saying it could not afford the unions’ above-inflation demands.
Numsa’s wage demands at Samancor come as the union signed a one-year 6.5% across-the-board wage agreement with ArcelorMittal SA, Africa’s largest steel producer, in May.
In July, Numsa wrestled Eskom management into signing a 7% wage increase that will add R1bn to the salary bill of the power utility, which is saddled with debt of more than R390bn.
In the statement, Jim said Numsa is demanding a 15% across-the-board increase at Samancor, where the lowest-paid worker earns “approximately R7,000 after deductions”. Numsa members rejected the two-year 6% wage proposal considering the high cost of living. The SA Reserve Bank has forecast a headline inflation rate of 6.5% for 2022.
“There are some wage categories that will not benefit from the manner in which this increase has been implemented.”
Numsa’s other demands include a 100% medical aid contribution from Samancor. “The employer is making a minimal contribution of R2,160 and that contribution does not take into account whether you have dependents or not. The issue of medical aid in particular is a burning issue,” Jim said.
NUM spokesperson Livhuwani Mammburu referred questions to the unions general secretary William Mabapa who could not be reached for comment.
Samancor spokesperson Sunel Pretorius said: “Seventy-nine percent of the company’s employees, who are members of NUM, Solidarity and UASA the union, have accepted the company’s wage offer and the wage increase. Additional benefits have also been implemented for these employees.”
She said it was regrettable that Numsa has “misrepresented facts in their communication. No strike certificate has been issued and Samancor Chrome trusts that the formal processes at both the MEIBC and CCMA will run [their] course. Samancor Chrome remains committed to engagements towards ensuring that all its employees benefit from the wage agreement”.
Update August 15 2022
This article has been updated with comment from Samancor spokesperson Sunel Pretorius