There is progress on job summits in the engineering and automotive sectors despite the continued postponement of the engineering job summit.

In engineering, parties are still in the pre-summit process. The date for the engineering job summit has now been set for November. In the lead up to the summit, working groups will discuss the following problems:

procurement and Proudly South African. The group will discuss how and where companies buy goods from, how much is sourced locally and if it is sourced from outside the country, why. It will also discuss how to promote the buying of 'Proudly South African' goods.

Numsa's representatives will argue for procurement policies that favour local goods, and companies that are complying with the Employment Equity Act, Skills Development Act and support small, medium and micro enterprises. Trade – this covers the whole area of imports, exports, tariffs and customs and excise.

Numsa's position on tariffs is that tariffs should not be reduced at a faster rate than required by the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Where they have been reduced faster, they should be increased to this level.

Workers in the sectors affected by retrenchments must be put through programmes to retrain them for new jobs. Import-parity pricing (this is when companies set the local selling price of goods at the same level as if they imported them. Iscor does this with steel).

Numsa has long said that import parity pricing on steel makes goods manufactured from steel in this country more expensive and prevents growth in the economy.

Numsa proposes that prices should be reduced for local markets or bigger discounts apply to local consumers. skills and training. The group will try to find ways in which skills and training in the sector can be increased. investment.

The investment working group will look at patterns of investment in the sector. Numsa will be demanding that where there is foreign investment that technology, skills and training is transferred and that local suppliers are used.

Name of working group

Numsa represented by

First meeting

Procurement and Proudly South African

Lucas Mthiyane, J Ndumo, Bafana Ndebele, D Seleki, S Kok , Nkoane Pasha, A Mabhena, M Futshane

30 June

Trade

Isaac Mkhwanazi, L Maluleka, Omar Gire, J Ndumo, Bafana Ndebele, P Maduna, G Ntsele

July 11

Import parity pricing

Bafana Nkosi, J Ndumo, Bafana Ndebele, Benjamin Seeta, Karl Cloete, B Cele

 Skills and training 

Beginning August

Investment 

mid August 

—- box with pic of booklet

If you want to get a copy of Numsa's demands for the engineering job summit, contact your local office, your regional office, or write to Numsa News, P.O. Box 260483 , Excom 2023.

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Automotive sector job summit

Meanwhile, after much resistance, auto employers have agreed to a 'job summit'. Instead of having a special job summit, issues will be discussed inside the Motor Industries Development Council, a tri-partite forum of government, employer and trade union representatives, that meets on a regular basis.

According to Jeffrey Ndumo, Numsa's researcher, parties will together discuss problems identified such as:

jobs and job creation affordability of cars and car prices import parity pricing, exporting of scrap metal.

Once achievements/ agreements have been reached on how to go forward on these issues, they will report to Nedlac. The MIDC will monitor progress or lack of progress on these matters.
 

Source

Numsa News