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The Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party supports the call for strike action in the engineering sector as made by the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa.

Since the beginning of wage negotiations in July this year, employers in the engineering sector have dismally failed to give a meaningful offer to workers. Employer groupings in this sector, with a large number of them organised under the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (SEIFSA), have made a ridiculously exploitative offer of 4.4% wage increase for 2021.

The SRWP stands with NUMSA in rejecting this slave wage offer! The reason the employers can make such ridiculous offers is because they are emboldened by the national minimum wage of R20 per hour. The ANC’s neoliberal and capitalist agenda has set the tone for employers to continue with apartheid starvation wages under the so called democratic dispensation in South Africa.

The astronomical increase in the cost of living, especially escalating prices of food, fuel, transport and electricity among other basic necessities, makes this offer by employers an insult to the working class, also in the engineering sector. This must be rejected with the contempt it deserves!

The SRWP stands in full support of NUMSA’s demands submitted to employers’ associations in the negotiations. The demand of our fellow workers is reasonable: there must be an 8% increase for the year 2021 across the board and the scope of the Main Agreement must be extended to those employers who are non-parties to the Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council (MEIBC). This is to ensure that workers receive the same increases and benefits and that all employers in the industry pay the same rates.

The super-exploitative wage offer made by employers also comes with a baggage they term “special phase-in dispensation”. This so-called phase-in dispensation simply means that those employers who are claiming to not be able to pay the R49 for the lowest paid workers in the industry, must be allowed to pay 60% of this R49 for a period of 10 years to phase-in to 100%. Furthermore, those employers who cannot even afford to pay at 60% of R49 the proposal is that they must be allowed at least 5 years to first arrive at 60%, and then another 10 years in order to get to 100%. We reject this with the contempt it deserves!

The SRWP is fully aware that NUMSA members and workers in general in the engineering sector did not receive any wage increase in 2020 as employers cited the Covid-19 pandemic for poor economic performance. We are strengthened by Metalworkers’ courage refusing to turn the other cheek to employers this year.

The SRWP calls on the working class across the country and all its structures to rally behind NUMSA in the upcoming strike. The strike will start with marches across the country on the 5th of October, and from there a rolling mass action will unfold. We must all be in touch with NUMSA’s nine Regional Offices to join the programmes of the strike action. As an organisation that stands against all forms of exploitation and oppression, we call on the working class and our members to be combat ready and provide decisive leadership during the strike. We must win this critical class battle! We must force the employers to agree to NUMSA’s demands!

An Injury to One is an Injury to All!

Victory to the Metalworkers Strike!

All Power to the Working Class!

Issued by Deputy National Chairperson Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party Moleko Phakedi