Construction strike continues

Strike action in the construction sector continued on Monday, after the latest wage offer was rejected, the National Union of Mineworkers said.

   

"There is no end in sight for the strike action in construction, it continues until the employers grant our demands," NUM spokesman Lesiba Seshoka said.

   

"We said to them [employers] they must address our demands on the minimum packages and not offer us R400 increases, we will not allow that."

   

On Friday the body representing employers, the SA Federation of Civil Engineering Contractors (Safcec), tabled a 10 percent wage increase for category one to four workers and an eight percent wage increase for categories five to nine.

   

"The 10 percent translates into a R400 increase for those workers and the eight percent is about R300 for those workers. We made it clear that the minimum should be a minimum of R5500 for the lowest paid workers," Seshoka said.

   

Safcec said NUM's demands were "erratic" and unsustainable.

   

"The last formal demands received from NUM, prior to the issuing of a certificate of non-resolution, called for an increase of 40 percent," Safcec's spokeswoman Annemie Cowley said in a statement.

   

"It is considerably above both CPI and other industry settlements and would have also provided certainty to both employers and employees," Cowley continued.

   

Last week, Seshoka said about 90,000 NUM members did not report for work after negotiations with employers reached a deadlock.

   

NUM demanded a change in minimum salary structures, a 13 percent wage increase for 2013, and a 14 percent increase for 2014.

   

Employers initially tabled a six percent wage increase for 2013 and an inflation-linked increase for the next year.

   

-Sapa