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27 August, 2007
On Monday 20 August, a one-month long strike ended in the South African tyre sector, in which 6,000 members of the ICEM affiliated National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) had been participating. The strike included workers from six major tyre manufacturing plants, including Goodyear and Continental in Port Elizabeth, Dunlop in Durban and Ladysmith, and Bridgestone in Port Elizabeth and Brits, North West.
The strike ended after the union reached a historic agreement with the South African Employers’ New Tyre Industry Association.
The three-year agreement brings important achievements for the union members. Wage increases are set at 8% for the first year, and at 7.5% for the second and third year. Other advantages gained include skill-based development grading, five months maternity leave, an annual leave of 15 working days, and a 10.5% increase in employers’ contribution to the provident (or pension) fund. Agreement was also reached on another important NUMSA demand, namely on the scrapping of the use of labour brokers.
In addition, Goodyear in Port Elizabeth agreed to absorb about 100 contract workers into its permanent staff, out of a total of 250 employees hired under labour brokerages. A consolidated process to phase out the remaining 150 agency jobs will be started.
During the strike, NUMSA organised many different actions, including protest marches at Bridgestone-Firestone, Goodyear and Continental. About 4,000 union members handed over a memorandum to the New Tyre Manufacturing Industry Association’s spokesperson Attie Higgs at the Continental plant. Another 2,000 strikers in Durban and Ladysmith gave their memoranda to the Dunlop management, as did the workers of Bridgestone in Brits.
The Union had also organised industry-wide solidarity protest actions, which involved more than 15,000 employees in the auto manufacturing industry, where NUMSA has already signed an agreement which substantially improves the conditions of employment, while, at the same time, taking a long-term view to the continued growth of this sector.