Subscribe & Follow

Advertise your job vacancies

Employers want wage agreement annulled

13 Oct 2011

The National Employers' Association of South Africa (Neasa) has asked the Labour Court to annul a decision by Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant to extend to non-parties the wage agreement reached with the engineering sector.

Business Report says the agreement was reach at the Metal and Engineering Industries' Bargain Council in July between the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of South Africa and six trade unions including the National Union of Metalworker of South Africa after a two-week strike disrupted production at manufacturing plants around the country.

The wage agreements last for three years and provide staggered wage increases of 8% for skilled hourly-paid workers and 10% for unskilled workers. It was backdated to 1 July.

Oliphant extended the agreement to non-parties in September despite protests from Neasa, which represents about 1 250 employers. Its members did not sign the agreement. Now Numsa says its will join representatives of the bargaining council and appeal to the courts to get Oliphant to annul the extension of the agreement to non-parties.

Read the full article on www.iol.co.za.