Industry strike ends: NEASA lock-out remains in place

MEIBC: INDUSTRY ALERT!

 

NEASA LOCK-OUT REMAINS IN PLACE

 

 

Dear NEASA member

 

The trade unions to the Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council today concluded a settlement agreement with SEIFSA.

 

This agreement, at this stage, is only a party agreement which entails that only those parties who signed the agreement are bound by it. NEASA is not a signatory to the agreement and therefore NEASA members, as well as any other employers not affiliated to SEIFSA, are not bound by it until such time as the agreement is extended by the Minister of Labour.

 

NEASA will exhaust all available options to prevent the signatory parties and the Minister from extending the agreement to our members and other non-parties in the industry.

 

In light of the fact that NEASA is not a party to the agreement and that our demands have not been met, it is our intention to enforce the lock-out that is currently in place and not to allow members of NUMSA, CEPPAWU, SAEWA, UASA and MEWUSA to return to work until such time as our demands have been conceded to.

 

This means that employers may refuse to allow members from these unions to come back to work when they wish to do so.

 

We take note of the fact that some employers need these employees back at work in order to again produce at full capacity as soon as possible; however, we urge those employers who are able to continue production without them or who have made alternative arrangements to flex their collective muscle and keep these employees locked out due to the dispute between NEASA and their respective unions. 

 

In the event of employees deciding to resign their membership with their respective unions they should be allowed to return to work. We however caution employers not to request or attempt to force employees to resign from the union as it is their constitutional right to associate with a trade union. Employers should simply explain that due to the dispute between their respective unions and NEASA still not having been resolved they, as a member of these unions, are not allowed to return to work.   

 

It is likely that employers will receive a large number of queries from employees on this issue and we have prepared a pro forma explanatory letter which may be handed to employees.

 

Members can access this letter to employees and the lock-out notice by clicking on the following links:

 

• Letter to employees
• Lock-out notice

 

Kind Regards

 

Gerhard Papenfus

NEASA Chief Executive