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9 August, 2010
ICEM South African affiliate, the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood & Allied Workers Union (CEPPWAWU), is gradually agreeing to pay accords with employer associations in several industrial sectors, with disputes declared only across a few industries. CEPPWAWU is the lead union in industry-wide negotiations in some 11 of 13 manufacturing sectors, and 2010 pay awards are being reached at or just slightly above the current South African inflation rate of 7% to 7.5%.
Contracts for many of the 60,000 members of CEPPWAWU and four other unions expired on 1 July 2010, although a few industrial sectors – namely, Petroleum, Glass, and the Plastics bargaining council of Metal and Engineering Industries Sector – are under longer term contracts, and only 2010 wage determinations are up this year.
Adversarial bargaining generally across CEPPWAWU’s sectors has not occurred in 2010, primarily due to attention of the recently completed World Cup games in South Africa. Some sectors reached multi-year agreements with unions in 2009 to avoid flashpoint bargaining in 2010. And in one sector, Pulp, Paper, and part of the Wood Products sector, bargaining was delayed until completion of the World Cup.
Disputes brought before the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA) have been lodged in the Fibreboard and Particleboard chambre, as well as in Sawmilling. Disputes were also declared in Industrial Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals, Fast-Moving Consumer Goods, and Pulp and Paper, but late in July and early August agreements were reached in those sectors.
In Pulp and Paper, where the major employers are Sappi and Mondi, agreement was recently reached for an 8% increase, with shift allowance adjustments still to be determined. In Chemicals, where 12,000 workers are covered by the blanket agreement, CEPPWAWU and three smaller unions agreed to a 7.5% increase, with 0.5% to be added in January 2011. Sasol, Dow Chemical, and PetroSA are the major employers.
In Pharmaceuticals, numbering about 3,000 workers, an 8% increase was achieved, retroactive to 1 July. Pfizer, Aspen, and Adcock Ingram are the leading employers.
In the Furniture chambre, where the National Union of Furniture & Allied Workers’ Union (NUFAWSA) is the majority union, a 7% wage increase was agreed to. In Fast-Moving Consumer Goods, an 8% increase was won for some 2,000 workers.
One sector that has seen a split in 2010 is the Tissue & Allied Products, where Kimberly-Clark and Nampak have failed to come together in a common employers’ voice mainly due to wage disparities. Nampak has withdrawn from industry-wide talks in this sector. Meanwhile, Kimberly-Clark did reach an early wage agreement with CEPPWAWU, calling for a 2010 increase of 8%, while the union is now forced to bargain separately with Nampak. Those talks only started late last week, with the two sides scheduling second and third rounds of bargaining on 18-19 August and 30-31 August.
In the sectors with multi-year agreements, CEPPWAWU and Petroleum employers now enter the second half of a two-year agreement for 13,500 workers, and a wage adjustment pegged to the 2010 inflation rate at this point – 7.25% – was paid on 1 July. In glass, another two-year agreement covering 2,200 workers, a 7% increase was made. And in Plastics, where labour and management now enter the final year of a four-year deal, 8.1% was paid out to lower salaried workers, while 7.1% was won for those at the higher end.
The Particleboard and Sawmilling talks will see the government intervene in talks through the CCMA on 16 August.
Roughly 75% of CEPPWAWU’s total membership is covered under the various industry-wide bargaining forums. CEPPWAWU was born in 1999 when the Chemical Workers’ Industrial Union (CWIU) and the Paper, Printing, Wood & Allied Workers’ Union (PPWAWU) merged.