The MEIBC is a weapon of mass destruction

‘A WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION’

and also

THE WORLD’S MOST PUZZLING PHENOMENON RIGHT HERE IN SOUTH AFRICA
in the Metal Industry

Stats SA has recently released its employment statistics report for the second quarter of this year, which showed that jobs in South Africa had declined by 34 000.

Manufacturing, of which the Metal Engineering Industry (MEIBC) forms the major part of, was responsible for the largest portion of these job losses – 13 000.

An Industry employer who forwarded the Stats SA article to me, made the following remark:

“THE MEIBC IS A WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION”

This remark is so appropriate, I just have to share it.

The minimum entry level wage SEIFSA has recently agreed upon with NUMSA and other unions is R 43.59, which is R 17.59 higher than the second highest wage applicable to industries covered by bargaining council agreements. Fortunately, this bizarre wage arrangement only binds employers somehow affiliated to SEIFSA.

Just imagine what these ridiculous wage deals, over many years, have done to completely bar employment at the entry level of employment in the Steel Industry.

Just imagine what it is doing to existing levels of employment? The statistics indeed show what the effect is. The aforesaid, however, is just the effect on the second quarter of this year. According to the Industrial Development Corporation, the manufacturing sector, of which the Metal Industry forms a dominant part, now employs approximately 15% less employees than in 2008. In comparison, the labour force has increased by 19% over the same period. There is also sufficient evidence that there is a direct correlation between the MEIBC’s excessive wage rates and the decline in employment in this sector.

All of this simply amounts to the destruction of the Industry on a mass scale.

NEASA has been campaigning against this destructive dispensation for many years.
It’s time to take this battle to the next level.

THE MOST PUZZLING PHENOMENON IN THE WORLD
appearing here in South Africa, in fact, in the Metal Industry
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Kind regards