Will the Minister extend the July '14 agreement?

METAL INDUSTRY ALERT
 
This is just an update on various issues before you go on holiday

 
– Will the Minister extend the July '14 agreement?
– Can the extension of the MEIBC main agreement be made retrospective?
– Why does NEASA resist the extension of this agreement so vehemently?
– The 1 Dec '14 judgement and NEASA's appeal
– NEASA lock-out!
 
Dear NEASA member
 
WILL THE MINISTER EXTEND THE JULY '14 AGREEMENT?
 
We've appealed to the Minister to desist from extending that agreement, or at least wait for the outcome of NEASA's appeal to the Labour Appeal Court of the recent ruling in the Labour Court before she makes a decision. In our petition to the Minister we have spelt out in great detail why we believe that NEASA's appeal will be successful. Should the Minister, notwithstanding all of the above, extend the July '14 agreement to non-parties, we will review her decision.
 
 
CAN THE EXTENSION OF THE MEIBC MAIN AGREEMENT BE MADE RETROSPECTIVE?
 
It has come to our attention that rumours are doing the rounds that if the Minister of Labour should decide to extend the Seifsa/trade union settlement agreement to non-parties, such an extension will be with retrospective effect from 1 July '14.
 
These rumours are blatantly false.
 
Any possible future extension will, by virtue of the settlement agreement itself, only be applicable to non-parties from the date of extension of that agreement.
 
 
WHY DOES NEASA RESIST THE EXTENSION OF THIS AGREEMENT SO VEHEMENTLY?
 
Simply because …
 
•                    it is not our agreement; it was negotiated behind our backs;
•                    the terms of the agreement suits big business but is hostile to SMME's;
•                    it is an agreement to which a weak Seifsa has ‘reluctantly agreed to', admitting that it 'will lead to massive job losses' (how can we accept that such an arrangement be enforced upon us?);
•                    it is an agreement which even the Minister of Finance and the Governor of the Reserve Bank say is unsustainable; and
•                    it is an agreement which, even in Seifsa's own admission, is the result of a failed process of negotiations (from an employers' perspective).
 
Now they want that agreement to be extended to non-parties, so that non-parties can share in their misery and the manipulation of the Industry by huge business could continue. We will not subject ourselves to that.
 
 
THE 1 DEC '14 JUDGEMENT AND NEASA's APPEAL
 
We hope our urgent appeal will be heard early in the new year. The Seifsa/Numsa/ MEIBC joy following their 1 December '14 victory will be short-lived. Our fight against the exclusion of SMME's from decision making processes will not stop until a just outcome is delivered.
 
 
NEASA LOCK-OUT!
 
On Tuesday night NUMSA filed yet another urgent application to stop NEASA members from locking out union members who participated in the July '14 strike. Their previous two attempts failed. This urgent application will be heard by the Labour Court on Wednesday, 17 December '14. We will off course also deal with this application appropriately.
 
 
ALWAYS REMEMBER…
 
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the blood stream. It must be fought for, protected and handed on for them to do the same." Ronald Reagan
 
Regards
 
Gerhard Papenfus