The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) has agreed to a settlement offer by the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of South Africa (Seifsa) and other employers, the union said on Sunday.

Numsa secretary general Irvin Jim said the union's national executive committee had discussed the "improved benefits" on Sunday and decided that strikers needed to return to work within the next 48 hours.

"Numsa shall engage Seifsa employers on the universal principle of 'No work, No pay, No discipline," Jim said.

About 170 000 workers from Numsa, the Metal and Electrical Workers Union, and the South Africa Equity Workers Association started a countrywide strike two weeks ago. They had demanded wage increases of 10% to 13% and a ban on labour brokers.

Several other unions from the chemical, transport, petroleum and energy sectors joined the strike last week.

The three-year agreement with Numsa included a 10% wage increase for general workers and methods to phase labour brokers out of the industry.

"Labour broking is human trafficking! It is slavery! It does nothing to prevent poverty in the country," Jim said.

He also condemned the "mischievous" and opportunistic" stance taken by employers when they announced that Numsa had agreed to the offer on Friday.

"The real facts are that the Numsa NEC on July 14 debated the proposed settlement... and recommended that the nine Numsa regions report back on Friday and Saturday (July 15 and 16)."

The settlement went through even after it was rejected by the Port Elizabeth sector.

Jim said Numsa would still be ready to participate in the Cosatu Living Wage Campaign, which would see mass action demanding the banning of labour brokers by parliament, a legislated minimum wage for workers, disclosure of company profits and the implementation of a national health insurance.

"This and other battles of the working class are more necessary if we are to reverse the triple crises of unemployment, poverty and inequalities in our country." he said.