The race to 400 000 members by 2016 is likely to be achieved as long as Numsa team-players know how to handle the game collaboratively.

Competing regions are excitedly on the look-out for a best region to win the race. It also takes an innovative recruiter with unique strategies to exceed the needs by uplifting the drowning figures from the sinking caused by endless retrenchments.

These are some of the experiences shared by the recruiters
Elsie Kunene is aware that the metal industry is male-dominated when she joined other recruiters. She humbly gathered all her strength when convincing workers to join the union. She ignored some negative remarks coming from men who seemed too traditional and came back telling herself that anyone could recruit despite their gender type.

Mighty Mankwe sensed the ignorance from some workers who did not care to know what the union does for members. Some former members even go to an extent of becoming a bad influence on others by discouraging them not to join the union. He was also concerned about some newly-recruited members who don’t fully understand union procedures.

The newly recruited don’t come to the union when they face problems instead they expect the union to go to them as and when they need it and if the union representative is not available, they become angry. He also mentioned that follow-ups are necessary after recruiting because there are other workers who make up their minds days later.

Douglas Sello had a bad experience when he was accused of being an intruder at the employers’ offices. The regional organizer came to his rescue. His main focus is on the negotiation part to draw the workers, especially wages.

The above experiences need to be revised with the intention of attaining the goal. It’s crucial that recruiters are re-trained before engaging themselves to resume project to avoid mistakes. The union should accumulate some significant recruitment strategy that can be helpful in increasing or maintaining the current membership.

While focusing on companies with unorganized labour force, visiting familiar plants where the database has already been created can be also helpful.
Recruiters should be mindful of age group when recruiting.

A newly recruited worker at Techfab who just 60 years; was told to retire only after two weeks of joining the union. The inclusion of more women as part of gender empowerment has been unsuccessful due to the less percentage of women in the metal industry.

With the viable team-work, it’s important to introduce the union at the company shortly after members join the union. The union would like to believe hiring recruiters was not time-wasting.