2015-2016-2017-2018

SEIFSA REPRESENTS SMALL AND BIG COMPANIES, AND SEEKS A WIN-WIN DISPENSATION WITH LABOUR

JOHANNESBURG, 12 JULY 2017 – Contrary to propaganda maliciously spread by another employer organisation, the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (SEIFSA) represents both small and big companies in its sector and fights hard to represent their interests, SEIFSA CEO Kaizer Nyatsumba said today.

Responding to a statement issued by NEASA today, Mr Nyatsumba said he found it bitterly disappointing that, following the deadlock in the 2017 wage negotiations in the metals and engineering sector, increasingly NEASA CEO Gerhard Papenfus was “viciously lashing out at everybody and everything, with SEIFSA particularly singled out for his worst propaganda campaign”.

Mr Nyatsumba said that Mr Papenfus appeared to be growing increasingly desperate and, in the process, sought to portray SEIFSA as an organisation that represented big employers in the sector and concluded deals only suitable to them.

“Nothing could be further from the truth. We represent both small and big employers. In fact, the overwhelming majority of our member companies employ no more than 50 people. Therefore, in our approach to negotiations with labour, we always strive to reach a deal that is acceptable to all our members, both small and big,” Mr Nyatsumba said.

He also took exception to Mr Papenfus’s attempts to characterize historic wage settlements in the Metals and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council as having been agreements between SEIFSA and one union, NUMSA.

“Nothing could be further from the truth. SEIFSA, which represents 25 independent employer Associations, has always negotiated and concluded agreements with all the trade unions in this sector, including Solidary. Although there are currently five unions within the MEIBC, all six trade unions were signatories to the 2014 settlement agreement,” he said.

Mr Nyatsumba stressed that SEIFSA operated strictly in accordance with a mandate from its member Associations which, in turn, get mandated by their members and keep them informed during the negotiations process. The Federation also regularly writes directly to member companies to keep them apprised of developments.

Mr Nyatsumba said that SEIFSA, whose Economics and Commercial Division closely monitors trends within the sector on an ongoing basis, knows only too well the terrible state in which the sector finds itself and is equally – if not more – concerned about it.

“Unlike NEASA, we do not believe that a solution to the challenges faced by the sector can be imposed on any of our stakeholders, including labour. Instead, we believe in working closely with government and labour, as partners, in search of solutions, instead of standing on rooftops and shouting insults at everybody.

“That is why we engage with labour on an ongoing basis, and not only during wage negotiations, and are involved in ongoing efforts to lobby policy makers in the best interests of the sector. Shouting and pointing fingers is easy, but engaging in a search for win-win solutions is another thing altogether,” Mr Nyatsumba said.

He said that, in keeping with the initial mandate from the SEIFSA Council (an assembly of the Federation’s member Associations), SEIFSA had worked closely with other employer organisations – including NEASA – until last week. It will now engage directly with the unions in an effort to avoid industrial action, “which would have a devastating impact on an already fragile sector”.

“We have absolutely no intention of concluding a deal that would worsen the situation, nor do we have a mandate to do so. Instead, in these bilateral engagements we will seek to conclude a realistic settlement acceptable to our members.

“Clearly, it will not be possible to reach a settlement unless it is fair both to our members and to our labour partners. After all, it is in our mutual interest – and, indeed, South Africa’s – that no further job losses occur and that over time the sector becomes more competitive internationally,” Mr Nyatsumba said.

He said that it was unfortunate that, at a time when employers’ efforts should be on reaching an acceptable deal with labour to avoid industrial action, SEIFSA finds itself having to respond to NEASA’s vitriol and to set the record straight.

“For the record, we at SEIFSA have absolutely nothing against NEASA. We do not consider the organisation to be an enemy and have never singled it out for attacks, which is why we worked with it and other employer parties in a joint employer caucus both during this round of negotiations and in 2014. Unfortunately, our two organisations (SEIFSA and NEASA) no longer agree on the best way forward.

“We find it extremely unfortunate that NEASA has again targeted SEIFSA for these wholly unjustified, vitriolic attacks. We have no intention of responding in kind,” said Mr Nyatsumba.

Kaizer M. Nyatsumba
Chief Executive Officer

For Information:

Lucio Trentini
Operations Director
Direct | Tel: 011 298 9414 | Fax: 011 298 9514 | Cell: 082 449 6270
E-mail: lucio@seifsa.co.za
Web: www.seifsa.co.za

The Bargaining Council’s Sub-Committee appointed to resolve the dispute declared by the trade unions on 15 June 2017 concluded its deliberations today (6 July) without reaching an agreement.

In the meeting today, the employers tabled a revised position covering the following key areas in an effort to resolve the dispute:

• a three-year agreement;
• extension of the terms of the agreement to non-parties;
• an entry-level wage rate;
• an offer to increase wages on actual rates of pay by 5,3% and by 5,5% on the minimum scheduled rates;
• a process to expedite the finalisation of the Main Agreement National Exemptions Policy; and
• a proposal to strengthen Clause 37 of the Main Agreement (i.e. the clause protecting members from being approached for plant-level bargaining on matters of a substantive nature).

This Revised Employer Offer was supported by all the SEIFSA-affiliated Associations, but NEASA elected not to associate itself with the offer and SAEFA and CEO respectively chose to reserve their rights. The Border Industries Association did not participate directly in the process.

On the whole, all the trade unions have rejected the Revised Employer Offer. However, some of them indicated their in-principle support for certain aspects of the offer and others expressed willingness to continue to engage with employers in an ongoing effort to reach an agreement. On the other hand, NUMSA rejected the offer outright and formally requested the issuing of a certificate confirming that the dispute remains unresolved.

It is important for member companies and Associations to note that no strike (and lock-out action) may be implemented unless:

• a certificate is issued by the General Secretary of the Bargaining Council, on instruction from the Management Committee, to any party wishing to proceed with industrial action;
• once a certificate is issued, the trade union/s must thereafter issue a clear and unambiguous 48 hours’ notice of an intention to embark on strike action;
• the Bargaining Council’s Management Committee is only scheduled to meet on 21 July 2017, which means that any industrial action can only take place 48 hours thereafter; OR
• on the expiry of 30 days from the declaration of dispute.

With the trade unions having declared their dispute on 15 June 2017, the 30-day period is due to lapse on Saturday, 15 July 2017. Therefore, strike action can only take place on or after 18 July 2017.

Please note that the issuing of a 48-hour notice of intention to strike does not necessarily mean that strike action will follow immediately. Usually, the notice to embark on industrial action will contain information on the commencement and nature of the intended strike action.

Upon receipt from any union/s of its/their notice to strike, SEIFSA will immediately respond with a 48-hour notice of its own of intended Lock-Out action, on behalf of all its member Associations and their respective member companies. This will have the effect of reserving the rights of individual member companies to implement a lock-out of all striking employees, should they wish to do so.

In accordance with the mandate from our member Associations, SEIFSA has so far worked in a close partnership with fellow employer organisations in the MEIBC. Again consistent with our mandate as revised by the SEIFSA Council on 26 June 2017, the SEIFSA Negotiating Team will now seek to engage directly with labour and other key stakeholders on our own. We hope to begin a series of bilateral engagements with labour as soon as possible, followed by engagements with other parties in an effort to avert an industry strike and to find a solution that is in the best interests of our constituency and the industry.

Representing SEIFSA in such bilateral engagements will be a senior delegation appointed by the SEIFSA Council, which includes SEIFSA’s Executive Management Team, some Board Members and Association Chairpersons of some of our member Associations.

We will continue to keep you and the SEIFSA Council informed of developments in these engagements. No agreement will be concluded with labour in such engagements unless it has the prior approval of the SEIFSA Council.

Kaizer M. Nyatsumba
Chief Executive Officer

For Information:

Lucio Trentini Operations Director
Direct | Tel: 011 298 9414 | Fax: 011 298 9514 | Cell: 082 449 6270
E-mail: lucio@seifsa.co.za
Web: www.seifsa.co.za

The Management Committee Meeting of the Council agreed today (21 June 2017) to appoint a sub-committee to meet for the purposes of attempting to resolve the disputes declared by the employers and all the trade unions.

The sub-committee will meet on the following days under the facilitation of the Senior CCMA Commissioner:

• Wednesday, 28th June;
• Thursday, 29th June;
• Wednesday, 5th July; and
• Thursday, 6th July

The mandate of the appointed sub-committee is to attempt to resolve the dispute or to recommend to the Management Committee of the Bargaining Council a process by which the disputes can be resolved.

The SEIFSA Council will be meeting on Monday, 26 June to receive a comprehensive report on developments to date and to review and, if necessary, revise the SEIFSA mandate going into the next important phase of the Main Agreement negotiation process.

Kaizer Nyatsumba
Chief Executive Officer
Direct | Tel: 011 298 9403 | Fax: 011 298 9503 | Cell: 072 177 8197 |
E-mail: kaizer@seifsa.co.za

Head Office | Tel: 011 298 9400 or 0861 SEIFSA | Fax: 011 298 9500

For info:

Lucio Trentini
Operations Director
Direct | Tel: 011 298 9414 | Fax: 011 298 9514 | Cell: 082 449 6270 I
E-mail: lucio@seifsa.co.za

The Main Agreement Wages and Conditions of Employment Negotiations which continued today (15 June 2017) ended with the trade unions all declaring a dispute against the employers and the employers, in response, declaring a counter-dispute against all the trade unions.

The crux of the dispute declared by the trade unions relates to three views strongly held by labour:

• fundamentally, that the trade unions will not accept any changes to terms and conditions of employment that are aimed at diluting or varying downwards the existing terms of employment;
• secondly, that any wage offer must be based on actual rates of pay, as opposed to minimums;
• and, thirdly, that any eventual settlement must be extended to all non-parties in the industry.

During the session today, the employers made reference to the importance of constructing a new collective agreement that is competitive in nature and caters to the different needs of each employer constituency. Employers again stressed the importance of keeping factors like business sustainability, competitiveness, job retention and job creation in mind during the negotiations.

Employers reaffirmed the offer of a 5,3% wage increase (informed by the current official inflation rate) on the current minimum rates, accompanied by demands for a three-year Agreement, among other things.

In terms of the Bargaining Council’s Constitution, the dispute is now likely to be dealt with at a Management Committee Meeting of the Council on Wednesday, 21 June, where the parties will agree on how best to process it.

Kaizer Nyatsumba
Chief Executive Officer
Direct | Tel: 011 298 9403 | Fax: 011 298 9503 | Cell: 072 177 8197 |
E-mail: kaizer@seifsa.co.za

Head Office | Tel: 011 298 9400 or 0861 SEIFSA | Fax: 011 298 9500

For info:

Lucio Trentini
Operations Director
Direct | Tel: 011 298 9414 | Fax: 011 298 9514 | Cell: 082 449 6270 I
E-mail: lucio@seifsa.co.za

The Main Agreement Wages and Conditions of Employment Negotiations held on the 7th and 8th June 2017 ended with the employers presenting a wage model which aims to take into account the difficult economic and business conditions experienced by members.

When the negotiations commenced on 7 June under the facilitation of a Senior CCMA Commissioner, the trade unions provided motivations for their respective demands and requested that the employers respond to their demands and table a wage offer.

In response over the two days, the employers made reference to the importance of constructing a new collective agreement that is competitive in nature and caters to the different needs of each employer constituency. In particular, they highlighted issues related to sustainability, competitiveness, job retention and job creation.

Today (Thursday, 8 June) the employers tabled a 5,3% wage increase (informed by the current official inflation rate) on the current minimum rates, accompanied by demands for a three-year Agreement, among other things. The unions unanimously rejected the employers’ proposals and demanded that they return to their constituencies for revised mandates.

Negotiations are scheduled to continue on Thursday, 15 June 2017. The SEIFSA Council will meet on Monday, 12 June 2017 to receive a report and consider the best way forward.

Kaizer Nyatsumba
Chief Executive Officer
Direct | Tel: 011 298 9403 | Fax: 011 298 9503 | Cell: 072 177 8197 |
E-mail: kaizer@seifsa.co.za

Head Office | Tel: 011 298 9400 or 0861 SEIFSA | Fax: 011 298 9500

Greetings – and welcome to the first issue of the 2017 Wage Negotiations Update.

This Update will be distributed regularly throughout the 2017 negotiations on wages and conditions of employment and posted on our website (www.seifsa.co.za) in order to ensure that all companies that are members of Associations affiliated to SEIFSA are kept fully informed of developments during the negotiations. Although companies are members of our affiliated Associations and indirect members of the Federation, for ease of reference we will refer to such companies as SEIFSA member companies in this newsletter.

The 2017 wage negotiations are almost upon us. The main union in our sector, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), will be holding its Collective Bargaining Mandating Conference on 24-25 April 2017. We understand that the other unions have also been involved in similar processes. We expect to receive labour’s list of demands for the negotiations soon thereafter.

The SEIFSA Office operates strictly in accordance with mandates derived from the SEIFSA Council. The latter is an assembly of the 25 Associations that are members of SEIFSA, which brings the member Associations together to debate matters among themselves and develop a mandate for the Federation. Our responsibility is then to implement the mandate/s coming from our constituency, through the SEIFSA Council.

In preparation for the forthcoming negotiations, we have scheduled a Special SEIFSA Council Meeting for this afternoon (18 April 2017). At that meeting, member Associations will begin to formulate our mandate for the 2017 Wage Negotiations.

How can you get involved?
As member companies, your active involvement in preparations for the negotiations and throughout the process is paramount. We implore you to make your voices heard within your respective Associations. That way you will ensure that, when your Associations come to SEIFSA Council Meetings for mandating discussions, they do so informed by your companies’ views, among others.

Should you wish to establish which Association your company belongs to or when its meetings are scheduled, please contact either Associations Manager Theresa Crowley (theresa@seifsa.co.za) or Operations Director Lucio Trentini (lucio@seifsa.co.za).

We look forward to your active involvement and support throughout the 2017 wage negotiations process. We hope that we will be able to conclude matters without any industrial action.

Kaizer Nyatsumba
Chief Executive Officer
Direct | Tel: 011 298 9403 | Fax: 011 298 9503 | Cell: 072 177 8197 |
E-mail: kaizer@seifsa.co.za

Head Office | Tel: 011 298 9400 or 0861 SEIFSA | Fax: 011 298 9500