As you are no doubt aware, the Bargaining Council’s Sub-Committee appointed to resolve the dispute declared by the trade unions on 15 June 2017 concluded its deliberations on 6 July, without reaching an agreement.
In accordance with the mandate from our member Associations, SEIFSA has been engaging directly with labour and other key stakeholders on its own. To date, we have had a series of bilateral engagements with NUMSA and other trade unions, in an effort to avert a strike and to find a solution that is in the best interests of our constituency and the industry.
Representing SEIFSA in such bilateral engagements have been Senior Employer Representatives appointed by the SEIFSA Council, as well as SEIFSA’s Executive Management Team and some SEIFSA Board Members.
To date, no certificate or notice of strike action has been served and we remain confident that for as long as we are engaged in good-faith negotiations to deal with the few remaining issues on the negotiating table, we can avoid a strike and, more importantly, we can find a solution that is in the best interests of our constituency and the industry. Bilateral engagements with all key role players are continuing in earnest and we anticipate another anxious week’s wait before we may be able to present something concrete to the SEIFSA Council for its consideration.
A SEIFSA Council Meeting will take place on Monday, 7 August 2017 and we hope that by then a clearer picture of the situation will have emerged. In the interim, we expect the remainder of this week and next week to be normal, with little or no prospect of industrial action.
We will continue to keep you and the SEIFSA Council informed of any developments, should there be any, in these engagements. Once again, no agreement will be concluded with labour without 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