STEEL INDUSTRY: The Seifsa Agreement does not affect YOU!

STEEL INDUSTRY

Dear Steel Industry employer

The recently concluded agreement between Seifsa-affiliated organisations and the trade union parties to the MEIBC (‘the Seifsa agreement’) is only a party agreement and …

… binds only Seifsa-affiliated employers.

NOBODY ELSE

However, from the wording used in the agreement, it seems to be aimed at duping the Industry into believing that it is a “main agreement”.

The term “main agreement” has a historic connotation within the context of the MEIBC, as it was used to refer to the agreement which regulated terms of conditions in the sector and which bound all employers and employees within the scope of the agreement.

The fact of the matter is that there has not been an extended “main agreement” since 2011, and all other subsequent party agreements were not main agreements.

The use of the term “main agreement” to describe the Seifsa agreement, is both disingenuous and misleading, as it creates the impression in the broader Industry that all employers in the Steel Industry are bound by it and should comply with it.

The agreement further seeks to create the impression, by virtue of its phase-in exemption clauses, that employers, who have not been complying with the Seifsa agreements, have been committing some sort of unlawful act …

… and are now granted the opportunity to correct this.
THIS IS UTTER NONSENSE

There has been no binding “main agreement” since 2011; this is simply an illusion created to lure unsuspecting employers into the agreement.

Therefore, in summary:

• there is no such thing as a main agreement;
• the Seifsa agreement only binds the Seifsa-affiliated employers;
• it has no bearing whatsoever on other employers; and
• since 2011, there has been no “main agreement” which prescribes any wages and conditions of employment. Therefore, employers who have been paying wages as per their own discretion, have not fallen foul of the law and do not need to “phase in” wage rates to match that of the Seifsa agreement.

Any employer who is confronted with the Seifsa agreement, by any person or entity, informing them that they have to become party thereto, should reject such submissions and contact their Regional NEASA office, should they require assistance or clarity in this regard.

Regards
GC Papenfus
CHIEF EXECUTIVE

For more information:
NEASA Media Department
media@neasa.co.za