THE Labour Court in Johannesburg has set aside a three-year agreement in the metals industry, a serious blow for collective bargaining but which the National Employers Association of SA (Neasa) called a "huge victory".
Neasa has fought a series of legal battles against the Metal and Engineering Industry Bargaining Council over the past four years.
Labour Court Acting Judge Craig Watt-Pringle agreed on Thursday that Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant should not have extended an agreement between unions and large employers to Neasa’s 3,000 member companies.
While Neasa is part of the bargaining council, it has refused to sign on to wage increases agreed on in the collective bargaining process, saying its mostly small and medium-sized company members, employing about 80,000 people, cannot afford them. Neasa said on Thursday that the Labour Court found the agreement Ms Oliphant had extended to all employers had never been concluded under the auspices of the bargaining council.
Neasa CE Gerhard Papenfus said the court had "criticised" the bargaining council and Ms Oliphant for failing to get their "houses in order", and said in the judgment that they had "failed to do so in ways that are both obvious and fundamental".
"In defiance of Neasa’s constant arguments that this is an illegal and unconstitutional agreement — in the sense that the agreement was illegally obtained and extended to non-parties — the Metal and Engineering Industry Bargaining Council enforced the terms and mercilessly pursued struggling businesses, which caused many to close their doors," Mr Papenfus said.
"Neasa is saddened (and) outraged by the devastation caused to the industry over the last few years," he said.
Last year, the High Court in Pietermaritzburg ruled against Ms Oliphant and the National Bargaining Council for the Clothing Manufacturing Industry for extending wage agreements to parties outside the council.
At issue in both court cases is whether the collective bargaining process marginalises and impoverishes millions of lower-tier workers. Small manufacturers that are pressured to adhere to higher wage agreements become uncompetitive and cannot afford to employ people.
Legal sources said on Thursday that the Neasa decision was, in principle, a "final judgment" but that it could be appealed against if leave were granted. The Labour Appeal Court could be petitioned if leave to appeal is refused.
The metals and engineering industry has been severely dented by strikes this year, especially, the five-month strike by platinum workers. Much of manufacturing in SA turns on metals production, mining, the automotive sector and the construction industry.
The Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of SA (Seifsa), which supports the collective bargaining process and the extension of the wage agreement to all in the industry, declined to comment on the judgment.
The Department of Labour did not respond to requests for comment.
Neasa has long accused Seifsa of bullying small and medium-sized enterprises over wages, and did so again on Thursday. "Neasa has continuously pointed out the unconstitutionality and administrative incompetence, in various respects, of that agreement," Mr Papenfus said.
National Union of Metalworkers of SA general secretary Irvin Jim said on Thursday that all "conservative employers in the industry still stick to the old apartheid accumulation strategy of seeing black and African workers as not complete human beings who … must be paid starvation wages and … live in sweatshop conditions".
He said the working class should take to the streets next year to demand a national minimum wage so black workers no longer earned "starvation wages".
"Black workers are still earning R3,000-R4,000 (a month) in this sector while white workers are at R20,000 a month and above."
Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant. Picture: MARTIN RHODES
THE Labour Court in Johannesburg has set aside a three-year agreement in the metals industry, a serious blow for collective bargaining but which the National Employers Association of SA (Neasa) called a "huge victory".
Neasa has fought a series of legal battles against the Metal and Engineering Industry Bargaining Council over the past four years.
Labour Court Acting Judge Craig Watt-Pringle agreed on Thursday that Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant should not have extended an agreement between unions and large employers to Neasa’s 3,000 member companies.
While Neasa is part of the bargaining council, it has refused to sign on to wage increases agreed on in the collective bargaining process, saying its mostly small and medium-sized company members, employing about 80,000 people, cannot afford them. Neasa said on Thursday that the Labour Court found the agreement Ms Oliphant had extended to all employers had never been concluded under the auspices of the bargaining council.
Neasa CE Gerhard Papenfus said the court had "criticised" the bargaining council and Ms Oliphant for failing to get their "houses in order", and said in the judgment that they had "failed to do so in ways that are both obvious and fundamental".
"In defiance of Neasa’s constant arguments that this is an illegal and unconstitutional agreement — in the sense that the agreement was illegally obtained and extended to non-parties — the Metal and Engineering Industry Bargaining Council enforced the terms and mercilessly pursued struggling businesses, which caused many to close their doors," Mr Papenfus said.
"Neasa is saddened (and) outraged by the devastation caused to the industry over the last few years," he said.
Last year, the High Court in Pietermaritzburg ruled against Ms Oliphant and the National Bargaining Council for the Clothing Manufacturing Industry for extending wage agreements to parties outside the council.
At issue in both court cases is whether the collective bargaining process marginalises and impoverishes millions of lower-tier workers. Small manufacturers that are pressured to adhere to higher wage agreements become uncompetitive and cannot afford to employ people.
Legal sources said on Thursday that the Neasa decision was, in principle, a "final judgment" but that it could be appealed against if leave were granted. The Labour Appeal Court could be petitioned if leave to appeal is refused.
The metals and engineering industry has been severely dented by strikes this year, especially, the five-month strike by platinum workers. Much of manufacturing in SA turns on metals production, mining, the automotive sector and the construction industry.
The Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of SA (Seifsa), which supports the collective bargaining process and the extension of the wage agreement to all in the industry, declined to comment on the judgment.
The Department of Labour did not respond to requests for comment.
Neasa has long accused Seifsa of bullying small and medium-sized enterprises over wages, and did so again on Thursday. "Neasa has continuously pointed out the unconstitutionality and administrative incompetence, in various respects, of that agreement," Mr Papenfus said.
National Union of Metalworkers of SA general secretary Irvin Jim said on Thursday that all "conservative employers in the industry still stick to the old apartheid accumulation strategy of seeing black and African workers as not complete human beings who … must be paid starvation wages and … live in sweatshop conditions".
He said the working class should take to the streets next year to demand a national minimum wage so black workers no longer earned "starvation wages".
"Black workers are still earning R3,000-R4,000 (a month) in this sector while white workers are at R20,000 a month and above."
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