Disgruntled workers at vehicle manufacturer First Automobile Works in the Eastern Cape are entering their ninth week on strike, with no resolution in sight. “We are planning on doing a march to the mayor’s office because things have not worked well with negotiations with the employer,” says a 50-year-old shop steward.
Numsa has had numerous engagements with the company at the CCMA. “The employer offered us 15% but this was a verbal agreement, so we asked that they have the agreement in writing and they suddenly reverted back to the 7%,” says a 36-year-old worker who wanted to remain anonymous. Numsa has become a more radical union since its exit from the tripartite alliance.
But the shop steward says the strike is dragging on because the company shifts the goalpost every time they meet. “The company has been chopping and changing their offer. We originally wanted a one-year deal for 2021 but they [wanted] to extend it to 2022. The company came with a final offer of 11% this year and 9% next year on condition that we don’t negotiate for 2022. [But] when we went to [the] CCMA, they went back to 7% [and] the members rejected this.
A shop steward and a local organiser tested positive for Covid-19, so planned negotiations for bonuses that were going to take place in the third week of December will be moved to another date. The union is waiting for a response from the employer on their request for the payment of leave to workers.
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