The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry is concerned by the refusal of NUMSA to commit to a collective bargaining agreement that would return the motor industry operations to normal. This speaks to the unrealistic demands by the union representatives that seem to be at odds with the moderate wishes of workers who are losing weeks of pay during the strike. Employers now face a lose-lose situation; the entire industry can engage in strikes based on the collective bargaining model, but once an agreement is reached there is no guarantee that union representatives in specific manufacturing plants will not again call a strike to get some marginal benefit, while imposing heavy costs on the economy.

SACCI wishes to reiterate the message by the Reserve Bank Governor Gill Marcus on the damage that strikes do to the economy. The vehicle manufacturing strike alone cost South Africa an estimated R20 billion. One manufacturer has not produced a single car in the past six weeks, and there is a risk that domestic manufacturers may be losing out on export contracts because of the production delays and uncertainty. Any hope to build the South African motor manufacturing industry hinges on harmonious industrial relations, but the irresponsible acts by the unions are rather going to lead to disinvestment. It is because of this acrimony that South Africa’s international rankings in industrial relations have fallen to the bottom of the list.

Government does have a role to play to facilitate a conducive labour environment, but its most important role is to protect the rights of business and workers. Many workers want to work but are prohibited by way of union intimidation and many strikes would in fact not occur if workers were polled as illustrated by the recent petrol attendant strike. This is an assault on our shared value system and SACCI will write to the Minister of Labour to ask for protection of all employees who choose to work and be free of intimidation.