Reuters reports that unions said on Tuesday they had agreed to a three-year wage deal for metal and engineering sector workers, ending weeks of difficult negotiations and averting an industry strike.
Employers’ body Saefa (SA Engineers’ and Founders’ Association), which is a former affiliate of the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of SA (Seifsa) ehich represented employers in the talks, said they have agreed to a deal to give workers a 7% increase in 2017, 6.75% in 2018 and 6.5% in 2019. Trade union Solidarity would only say that wage increases would be between 6.5% and 7%. Solidarity and the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa), the two biggest unions involved in the talks, said they would sign an agreement with Seifsa on Wednesday.
- A short report by Tanisha Heiberg and Wendell Roelf is at BusinessLive