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5 November, 2000Numsa rejects company's restructuring plan and, if arbitration doesn't work, will declare an all-out strike.
SOUTH AFRICA: The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) reported that on November 3 the steel and wire-making company Cape-Gate, based in Vanderbijlpark, laid off approximately 600 workers and will further reduce the workforce by at least another 500 workers in January 2001. The company claims it has to make these job cuts in order to realign itself to the global market. International prices for steel products have declined considerably over the past two years, and South Africa's steel and wire production capacity far exceeds domestic consumption. Cape-Gate also contends that a weakening domestic demand for steel has brought with it increased exports at prices which do not cover their costs.
Numsa has rejected the company's reasoning as well as its restructuring plans based on the following:
- the company's decision to restructure, which will have serious ramifications for workers, was taken unilaterally, with no prior consultation, even though any work reorganisation must be communicated six months in advance;
- the company failed to disclose relevant audited financial statements for the years from 1997;
- the company failed to verify the exercise by auditors on relevant information submitted;
- the company's overproduction indicates gross mismanagement.
Numsa has put the case before the Conciliation Commission Mediation Arbitration and should this process fail, an all-out strike will be declared. The union states that the company is carrying out retrenchments indiscriminately and that it is a "crisis response" with no long-term sustainability of the company and no job retention strategy. "Using international benchmarking to retrench workers is not the solution to Cape-Gate's problems," says Numsa, "but such a move will escalate the rate of unemployment and poverty."
Numsa has rejected the company's reasoning as well as its restructuring plans based on the following:
- the company's decision to restructure, which will have serious ramifications for workers, was taken unilaterally, with no prior consultation, even though any work reorganisation must be communicated six months in advance;
- the company failed to disclose relevant audited financial statements for the years from 1997;
- the company failed to verify the exercise by auditors on relevant information submitted;
- the company's overproduction indicates gross mismanagement.
Numsa has put the case before the Conciliation Commission Mediation Arbitration and should this process fail, an all-out strike will be declared. The union states that the company is carrying out retrenchments indiscriminately and that it is a "crisis response" with no long-term sustainability of the company and no job retention strategy. "Using international benchmarking to retrench workers is not the solution to Cape-Gate's problems," says Numsa, "but such a move will escalate the rate of unemployment and poverty."