24 July, 2024When the Labour Court ruled in favour of Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa and interdicted a strike by 3000 automotive workers at the Silverton Assembly Plant in Pretoria, there were fears of possible dismissals.
Despite the legal setback, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), whose members led the strike, successfully negotiated for a return to work and averted the job losses.
The union reached an agreement with the Ford management for a once off payment of R20 000 ($1089) to each worker, and not to take disciplinary action against the striking workers. The workers then resumed work on 12 July.
NUMSA, an IndustriALL affiliate, has 3,000 members out of a workforce of 5,500 workers at the Silverton plant. According to Ford, its operation supports over 60 000 indirect jobs on the value chain, and exports over 500 000 locally assembled Ford Ranger pick-up trucks.
The workers went on strike to demand profit-sharing in addition to bonuses after Ford Global declared profits of over $25 billion in the last financial year according to industry reports. NUMSA argued that only shareholders and management were benefiting from the profits and not the workers. The union stressed that Ford could afford the profit-sharing.
However, the union did not reach an agreement with the Ford management over the profit-sharing even after the case was brought before the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA) on 11 June. The strike which began on 4 July, was then interdicted by the Labour Court, which ruled that the collective job action was unprotected according to the law.
NUMSA welcomed the agreement with the management.
“This is a victory for the workers. As a union we believe that the working class must benefit from the profit that is generated because workers create wealth. It would not have been possible if our members were not united in their demands,”
said Irvin Jim, NUMSA general secretary.
“Profit-sharing helps to cushion the South African automotive workers against the increasing cost of living. NUMSA is commended for continuing to stand for more benefits to the workers so that they can continue to afford looking after their families,”
said Paule France Ndessomin IndustriALL Sub-Saharan Africa regional secretary.