Industry strikes 'brake' car production in SA

"Billions of rands are being lost in the component and original equipment manufacturer sectors every day but the bigger damage has already been done - destroying investor confidence," said National Association of Automotive Component and Allied Manufacturers (Naacam) executive director Robert Houdet.

A three-week strike by automobile workers in August cost the industry 50,000 cars in lost production but just as it ended about 70,000 fuel attendants and workers in component producing companies decided to down tools.

"Volkswagen SA will keep its Uitenhage plant in the Eastern Cape shut until further notice," spokesman Matt Gennrich told AFP.

"This does not augur well for our hourly paid employees on the production lines as they will not be earning any income," he added.

Production grinds to a halt

General Motors South Africa spokesman Denise van Huyssteen says the company has not been producing vehicles since last week.

Ford spokesman Alisea Chetty reported that no production had taken place at the company's Port Elizabeth and Pretoria plants for two days. "Production is likely to restart on Wednesday (25 September).

Meanwhile Mercedes-Benz's Lynette Skriker said the company had limited production on its commercial vehicles line while a Toyota SA spokesman reported that its local manufacturing had stopped although assembly lines were operational.

Car manufacturers said they pin their hopes on new wage talks that are taking place today (Wednesday, 25 September).

Offers rejected

Workers have rejected the employers' offer of an eight percent increase in the first year and seven percent annually the next two years, according to the National Union of Mineworkers of South Africa (Numsa). "Workers are demanding a double-digit increase," Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim told AFP.

The strikes in the automotive industry follow stoppages in mining and construction fields where competing unions in those sectors made increasingly radical demands.

These radical demands may now spread to the automotive industry as militant labour group the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) has launched a massive membership drive in this sector.

Source: Sapa-AFP via I-Net Bridge