South African Trade Union Accepts Wage Offer

South African unionists have accepted a wage offer, and paving the way to end a three-week strike in the metal and engineering sector.

The offer was made to the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) and Solidarity by the employer body, Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of South Africa (SEIFA).

It includes a three-year salary agreement which sees salary increases of eight to 10 percent in the first year, seven-point- five percent to 10 percent in the second year, and seven to 10 percent in the third year.

According to Solidarity spokesperson Marius Croucamp, NUMSA, which spearheaded the strike, confirmed the acceptance of the offer.

At least 220, thousand NUMSA members put down their tools this month in a fresh round of labour unrest, demanding a 12 percent increase in wages across the board and one thousand or and about 93 dollars in housing allowance.

The workers however reduced their demand to a 10 percent increase.

Source: XINHUANEWS