PRESS RELEASE

 

On Monday, 4 August, the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (NUMSA) lodged an urgent application in the Labour Court to declare the lock-out by members of the National Employers Association of South Africa (NEASA) invalid.

 

The application was supposed to be heard this morning, 5 August, however a short while ago NUMSA announced that it was to withdrew its urgent application. Costs for the application was awarded against NUMSA.

 

Last week NEASA announced that its members would engage in a lock-out of union members who participated in the recent Metal Industry strike. The reason for the lock-out is because NEASA’s demands have not been considered during the recent industry negotiations. NEASA has therefore also refused to sign the recent settlement agreement that was reached between SEIFSA, NUMSA and five other unions. The lock-out will continue until NEASA’s demands have been sufficiently dealt with.

 

NEASA represents 3000 members in the Metal Industry alone, the majority of them are small and medium enterprises. These members represent approximately 70 000 workers.

 

For more information:

Sya van der Walt-Potgieter

Media Liaison