NUMSA condemns SA Steel Mills for suspending workers who were on a protected strike!
1 May 2024
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) condemns SA Steel Mills for its cruel and inhuman treatment of workers. This is not the first time that NUMSA members are exposing this company for flagrant abuses of workers’ rights. SA Steel Mills is notorious for creating an unsafe working environment. This time, the company has unfairly suspended workers who were on a protected strike.
Over 200 worker were suspended whilst they were on shift in the early hours of Tuesday morning on the 30th of April. The management allowed them to clock in at 10 pm, made them work for four hours, only to inform them at 1 am that they have been suspended. They then proceeded to kick them out of the company premises at 1 AM in the morning because the company claimed they were trespassing! Management refused to provide them with any form of public transportation, and unfortunately, at that late hour, there is none. Our members chose to sleep in the locker rooms and the toilets of the company, rather than walk in the middle of the night, and risk walking in the middle of the night, because it was dangerous. At the same time, there was very heavy security presence which we interpret as an attempt to intimidate workers.
NUMSA is disgusted by the conduct of SA Steel Mills management. They behave as if the labour laws do not exist. They make up the rules as they go along. It is likely that they are aiming to dismiss these workers at the disciplinary hearing which is scheduled for tomorrow, (Thursday 2 May) which is why they are rushing the process. They are clearly showing that they do not view workers as human beings. They are utterly shameless about kicking them out, with no regard for the possibility that they could be victims of crime from having to walk home in the middle of the night. It is ironic that whilst we are celebrating International Workers’ Day, this is how SA Steel Mills is conducting itself. SA Steel Mills is a modern-day example of what Apartheid in the workplace would have looked like. The management is backward and ignorant. They run the company like it is a spaza shop!
Background to this issue:
Our members went on a protected strike and the court granted the company a temporary interdict to block the strike on the 19th of April. (Arguments on whether the order should be made permanent will be made on the 22nd of May). The bosses wanted workers to return to work the next day. But due to the fact that most workers were at the picket line, they were unaware that the strike had been interdicted.
The court ordered that the sheriff and employer must make an arrangement with the union to inform workers properly and also confirm on the date of return. The Regional Secretary of Sedibeng, Kabelo Ramokhathali was at the meeting with the sheriff where this was explained. The union wrote a letter to the employer that those workers who are able to return to work immediately will do so, but the full complement of workers would be back on the 23rd of April. In such situations a grace period is usually given when a strike has been interdicted to give workers a chance to return.
However, SA Steel Mills says the strike was unlawful because the strike was called off on the 19th of April and they claim that workers should have returned to work by that date. And it claims this is why workers have been placed on suspension. NUMSA condemns SA Steel Mills for being unfair and unreasonable! They are determined to dismiss workers as quickly as possible
SA Steel Mills is trying to impose a reduction in conditions and wages
The other issue is that the bosses are forcing workers to sign a wage agreement which was signed and agreed to by a minority union, called FOSAWU. FOSAWU has very few members, NUMSA is the majority union representing 400 employees.
The agreement is a down variation of conditions because it reduces the wages and benefits which have been negotiated over decades. The benefits and wages are far lower than the rate which was negotiated as part of the Main Collective Agreement at the Metals and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council (MEIBC). SA Steel Mills is a party to the main collective agreement in Engineering where the minimum rate is R51, 1 per hour, but it is trying to force workers to sign an agreement that will reduce the minimum rate to R32. SA Steel Mills tried to apply for an exemption so that it would not pay R59,1 which is the industry rate, but their application was rejected because they failed to prove that they could not afford the minimum rate.
NUMSA has instructed its attorneys to intervene. We will defend our members against his backward abusive employer.
Issued by Kabelo Ramokhathali, NUMSA Regional Secretary Sedibeng, 1 May 2024
