The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa and Mercedez Benz South Africa (MBSA) Workers’ Indaba, held a Worker’s Indaba, this week.
The event aimed to address job losses, underproduction, and structural vulnerabilities in South Africa’s Automotive Manufacturing sector.
Speaking at the event, Irvin Jim, General Secretary of the National Union on Mine Workers (NUMSA) spoke about challenges in the auto and mining sectors.
“Mr Gwede Mantashe must make more radical decisions , that our minerals must be beneficiated, must actually build new sectors of the economy…to transform the sector” said Jim.
Other speakers were Dr. Alex Mashilo, Senior Researcher at NUMSA and former NUMSA Auto Sector Coordinator, as well as Mziyanda Twani, Regional Secretary of NUMSA in the Eastern Cape.
Delegates raised concerns over extended periods of reduced income, past retrenchments, and the lack of worker protection during production downturns.
The union demanded transparent communication from employers and called for state-backed training lay-off schemes, to upskill workers during downtime rather than resorting to retrenchments.
Picture: Supplied