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South Africa’s largest metal workers union on Wednesday said it had signed a wage deal with ArcelorMittal South Africa Ltd, ending a two-week strike over a pay dispute.
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), which embarked on a strike on May 11 demanding a 10% wage hike, said it had agreed on a 6.5% increase across the board – on basic pay and allowances – backdated to April 1 2022.
The company, Africa’s biggest steel producer which is majority owned by Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal, also agreed to make a one-off payment to all workers of 5,000 rand ($318.10), the union said.
“The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa is pleased to announce that it has signed an above-inflation increase for all workers at ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA),” NUMSA said in a statement late Wednesday.
“We met with the executives of the company today to negotiate an end to the strike our members accepted. As a result, the strike at AMSA is over.”
ArcelorMittal was not immediately available to comment.
The company had tabled a final offer of 7%, made up of a 5% increase across the board on all remuneration elements as well as a 2% cash equivalent based on all remuneration elements.
($1 = 15.7181 rand)
(By Nelson Banya; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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