Afrique du Sud : NUMSA rejects revised wage offer

NUMSA has been engaged in negotiations with the motor employers, namely Retailers Motor Industry (RMI) and Fuel Retailers Association (FRA) under the auspices and watchful eye of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) to find a lasting settlement on the ongoing wage dispute.

The negotiations resumed on Monday 07 September 2010, and a new and revised offer was presented by the employer for consideration by NUMSA. The revised offer is now 10% and we believe that this offer is largely influenced by the ongoing industrial actions mounted by our members across the country. However as NUMSA we have not accepted the offer due to the following principled reasons ;

• The revised offer does not accommodate all the employees in the motor sector in terms of a personal guaranteed increase ;

• The employer is misleading the public by painting a high percentage increase, when it does not guarantee every worker in the industry an increase ; and

• The offer made by the employer must attend to back-dating of the increase and ensure that we create decent work for all workers in accordance with the constitutional imperatives related to social justice.

NUMSA is extremely disturbed that the employers have rushed to the media to spew and prematurely announce the offer without NUMSA being afforded an opportunity to table this new and revised offer to its members. This we regard as totally unacceptable and might create confusion in the public and to our members.

We want to condemn this ‘golf-course’ style announcement of the revised offer by the employers. We call on our members not to be defocused or confused by the latest developments, but continue with their industrial actions until a final settlement is reached.

Source from COSATU