The Motor Industry Staff Association (Misa) said it had lowered its wage demand for its members.
In a statement, Misa said the organisation had lowered its wage demand to 8.5% as a sign of the union’s commitment to continue wage negotiations.
The union said it hoped this would be seen as an act of good faith to reach an agreement for the benefit of its members.
It should be noted that Misa also told the Retail Motor Industry (RMI) that the union could not accept its revised wage offer for all sectors except Sector 5.
“The offer is not addressing the enormous cost of living increases, escalating fuel prices, interest rate hikes and especially food inflation that has left Misa members struggling to make ends meet. The record load shedding implemented by Eskom in the past month aggravated an already dire situation,” said Hermann Köstens, Misa’s chief executive officer: strategy and development.
RMI WAGE DEAL
In examining the wage deal proposed by RMI it should be noted that RMI issued a revised wage offer for all sectors except Sector 5.
According to Misa’s statement, the revised offer is a multi-term agreement with a 5.5% wage increase on minimum wages for year one, 4.5% for year two and 4% for the third year. This is a reshuffle of the initial three-year wage offer of a 5% wage increase on minimum wages for all sectors, except Sector 5.
RMI and the Fuel Retailers Association (FRA) said they were offering a multi-term wage agreement in Sector 5 with a 5% salary increase for year one, 5% for year two and 4% for year three.
Köstens said Misa’s members could not accept 5%.
“The union is of the view that the employer can afford to pay employees a proper increase on the minimum wage and ensure that the real take-home pay is back to pre-pandemic levels,” he said.
The rest of Misa’s demands are:
- Measures on the elimination of violence and harassment to ensure the provision of safe workplaces for all;
- Amendments to the wording of the short-time clause, because the current wording is creating challenges in the industry;
- A review of the calculation of retrenchment pay, accrued leave pay and the suspension of commission earners.
“Statistics of vehicle sales indicate stability returning to the new vehicle market. New vehicle sales in August were the second-best performing sales month to date in 2022, with 47 420 new vehicle registrations recorded,” said Köstens.
A GROWING ORGANISATION
Misa is a growing union and, according to the organisation, has been expanding member size exponentionally.
In July 2022 the union said a thousand more members had decided to join the association, and this was just over the past six weeks.
“The union continues to be one of the fastest-growing trade unions in South Africa,” Misa said.
In May 2022 the membership grew to just over 54 000.
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