MERCEDES-Benz plans to approach the courts if striking workers at its East London plant do not return to work by the end of today.
The Saturday Dispatch reported that the company’s 1600 factory floor workers withdrew their labour on Friday, halting production in the plant.
In a rare interview to discuss “internal matters”, a Mercedes-Benz (MBSA) top management team representing production, legal, human resources and communication units told the Daily Dispatch yesterday that the company was concerned about the impact of the strike on its customers, suppliers and the East London community at large.
The company has not experienced a strike in more than 24 years.
It said it had a good working relationship with the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (Numsa).
Workers who spoke to the Dispatch for Saturday’s report cited the Recognition Agreement signed between MBSA and Numsa in 1989, saying it allowed them to go on an unprotected strike for up to 72 hours.
But labour relations and legal manager Brian Knoesen said the clause in the Recognition Agreement had been taken out of context and the workforce might have been misled.
“Every right must be balanced and has its limit. Employees have a right to strike when they have exhausted other avenues before withdrawing labour, which impacts on production, and creates instability and unreliability.
“Reliability is critical, especially for our international suppliers,” said Knoesen.
Knoesen said the strike had taken the company by surprise and denied that management had threatened to discipline paint shop employees.
“ Management said the intention was to investigate the incident on May 14 when employees did not go back to work after lunch.
“Union representatives made it clear that was the dispute,” said Knoesen.
The strike comes amid tensions over the company’s mooted plans to outsource the logistics department, which it said are not finalised.
Numsa’s local organiser for MBSA, Vuyisile Makupula, referred queries to shop-stewards, saying he was not at the meeting held with the company on Friday afternoon.
Shop-steward Phumezo Tonisi said they would meet with workers and Makupula today .
“The company interprets the Recognition Agreement in a way that suits them and we told them as much in our meeting on Friday.
“ We are meeting with workers to decide whether we should go back to work,” said Tonisi. —
MBSA warns strikers over illegal stoppages
The Saturday Dispatch reported that the company’s 1600 factory floor workers withdrew their labour on Friday, halting production in the plant.
In a rare interview to discuss “internal matters”, a Mercedes-Benz (MBSA) top management team representing production, legal, human resources and communication units told the Daily Dispatch yesterday that the company was concerned about the impact of the strike on its customers, suppliers and the East London community at large.
The company has not experienced a strike in more than 24 years.
It said it had a good working relationship with the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (Numsa).
Workers who spoke to the Dispatch for Saturday’s report cited the Recognition Agreement signed between MBSA and Numsa in 1989, saying it allowed them to go on an unprotected strike for up to 72 hours.
But labour relations and legal manager Brian Knoesen said the clause in the Recognition Agreement had been taken out of context and the workforce might have been misled.
“Every right must be balanced and has its limit. Employees have a right to strike when they have exhausted other avenues before withdrawing labour, which impacts on production, and creates instability and unreliability.
“Reliability is critical, especially for our international suppliers,” said Knoesen.
Knoesen said the strike had taken the company by surprise and denied that management had threatened to discipline paint shop employees.
“ Management said the intention was to investigate the incident on May 14 when employees did not go back to work after lunch.
“Union representatives made it clear that was the dispute,” said Knoesen.
The strike comes amid tensions over the company’s mooted plans to outsource the logistics department, which it said are not finalised.
Numsa’s local organiser for MBSA, Vuyisile Makupula, referred queries to shop-stewards, saying he was not at the meeting held with the company on Friday afternoon.
Shop-steward Phumezo Tonisi said they would meet with workers and Makupula today .
“The company interprets the Recognition Agreement in a way that suits them and we told them as much in our meeting on Friday.
“ We are meeting with workers to decide whether we should go back to work,” said Tonisi. —
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