South African workers from automotive manufacturer Volkswagen protest during a strike outside the VW factory in Uitenhage, yesterday.
PORT ELIZABETH: More than 30,000 workers in South Africa’s auto industry vowed yesterday to intensify an nationwide wage strike that has crippled a multi-billion dollar export market.
In the coastal city of Port Elizabeth, dubbed the “Detroit of Africa,” thousands of workers took to the streets singing revolutionary songs outside General Motors, Ford and Volkswagen plants.
“The strike still proceeds,” said Mphumzi Maqungo, the treasurer of the National Union of Metalworkers (NUMSA), vowing to “intensify” the stoppage.
The workers are demanding a 14-percent pay increase. Employers have offered eight percent.
No talks have taken place between seven major car makers and workers since Monday, when tens of thousands downed tools.
NUMSA vowed to “take the battle to the employers’ doorsteps in the form of marches and demonstrations.” Ayanda Madlozi, a worker protesting outside the VW factory in Port Elizabeth, demanded “a wage which would take care of (his) whole family, not peanuts.”
Meanwhile at Ford’s plant in Mamelodi, on the outskirts of Pretoria, hundreds of workers clad in red T-shirts and berets chanted and danced.
The strike is costing South Africa — the continent’s largest car producer — around 3,000 vehicles or $60m at day in lost revenue according to industry lobby group the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa.
The group has warned lost production will need to be regained in order to meet obligations to international customers.
“Once the strike is over, which hopefully will be soon, manufacturers will inevitably and invariably take steps to recover part of the lost production,” said the group’s Nico Vermeulen. AFP
