NUMSA spokesperson Mziwakhe Hlangani said operations at the plants would grind to a halt in support of workers’ demands for a 10% wage increase across the board. This follows a NUMSA shop stewards’ council decision in Port Elizabeth on Tuesday.
"Several rounds of negotiations have failed to resolve the wage dispute," said Hlangani.
The employers were offering a 7% increase.
NUMSA is also demanding that the plants disclose the pay for hourly and salaried employees, and executive perks and pay increases over the last five years. "This is to ensure that the union is in a position to engage management effectively in the wage negotiations and other working conditions," he said.
Employees whose wages remained below the applicable entry rates – after the 2007 increments were effected – should receive a further increase to bring them on par.
"Nothing will stop us from achieving our demands as they were just and intended to improve the living conditions of our members. We are prepared for a fight to fight as long as selfish employers refuse to ensure that workers were entitled to better living wages," said Numsa’s auto and tyre sector coordinator Herman Ntlatleng.
Hlangani said Goodyear, Continental and Bridgestone plants in Port Elizabeth would be severely affected.
Thousands of workers at the Bridgestone plant in Brits in the North West, and Dunlop plants in Durban and Ladysmith were also prepared to join the strike.
