AUGUST AGREEMENT
Hurdles lie ahead for single-body metals industry wage deal
Employers and labour leaders have to reach an agreement on the existing settlement before the labour minister can intervene
The majority of employers in the steel and engineering sector have implemented self-determined wage increases for workers in the absence of an industry wage agreement. Trade unions signed a three-year wage deal with only one employer body, the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa) in August 2017, after disagreements among employers on the amounts on offer. Employer bodies such as the South African Engineers and Founders Association, a former affiliate of Seifsa, the Light Engineering Industries Association of SA and the KwaZulu-Natal Engineering Industries Association are among the majority of employers that were not party to the August agreement. This meant that, despite the existence of an industry bargaining council, employers who had rejected the 7% wage hike had unilaterally set their own rates, watering down the functions of centralised collective bargaining. The National Employers Association of SA (Neasa), which is opposed to the wage deal, ...
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