The three-year wage agreement concluded in the metals and engineering industry in 2024 was reached during a period of significant economic pressure for the industry, but, despite these challenges, the sector experienced a relatively stable industrial relations environment over the past three years, says employer organisation the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa).
Employers have been able to plan with greater certainty and employees have benefited from a structured collective bargaining process. This stability is the result of engagement, negotiation and compromise between organised business and organised labour, says Seifsa executive director Lucio Trentini.
Debate around collective bargaining and the extension of bargaining council agreements is healthy for labour relations in South Africa’s metals and engineering industry, he says, while also stressing the importance of collective bargaining remaining credible, representative and capable of delivering outcomes that provide certainty to employers and employees.
Employers are free to join the employer organisation they believe best represents their interests and employees are free to choose the trade union they believe best serves theirs. These freedoms are fundamental to the labour relations system.
