Irate Numsa members in Vanderbijlpark near Boipatong in Gauteng have been staging a protest for at least five weeks against the steel company over the insourcing of workers, amongst other reasons.

Last week the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) staged a protest in front of the UK embassy in Pretoria, demanding that it intervenes in what it calls the alleged abuse and exploitation of workers at a steel company in Vanderbijlpark. But, ArcelorMittal’s Tracey Peterson says the steel company has strict processes in place to ensure that its service providers treat their employees in accordance with the relevant labour legislation, as well as any other applicable legislation or specific bargaining council determinations.

Peterson says in an effort by ArcelorMittal South Africa to find common ground, it proposed to embark on a process over the next three years to insource some critical skills currently employed at service providers, however, the proposal was not accepted by Numsa during the conciliation engagements. She says allegations by Numsa are not only factually inaccurate but are completely against the spirit in which the parties have been engaging over the last four weeks to find an agreeable resolution to the strike at ArcelorMittal South Africa operations. 

Numsa spokesperson, Phakamile Hlubi-Majola, earlier told OFM News that they are demanding that the UK ambassador engages with management regarding their demands within seven days. Numsa marched to the headquarters of ArcelorMittal in Vanderbijlpark on Friday 12 April 2019, as part of its campaign to intensify the strike.

OFM News