HR Pulse

Numsa striking at Hulamin over employee pension and medical aid benefits

In an interview with Hulamin interim CEO Geoff Watson, there is an ongoing strike by some of the aluminium supplier’s workers since Monday over a dispute related to employee benefits. On Wednesday, Hulamin issued a statement informing shareholders that a strike was currently underway.

Watson advised: “We were issued with a notification of strike last Friday, and that gave the Numsa the opportunity to take the workers out within 48 hours. They did that on Monday at eight o’clock in the morning. Since then there has been picketing at the entry to the plant. We have shut down the plant and sent everybody, apart from people who are monitoring procedures from a safety perspective, on leave.

That’s where we are now on day four.” Asked how many workers exactly were on strike, Watson indicated: “In the area of about 1,000. But Numsa members are mainly in the operational area running the rolling mills, extrusion press containers, presses, that sort of equipment.” On the nature on the two issues in disputes, Watson advised as follows: “One is the pension. We have two funds – a pension and a provident fund – that have some history associated with them, and Numsa have a claim that the two funds should be equalised.

The second claim is around the issue of the medical aid, which Hulamin has capped for I think about eight years.” Watson reported that “at the moment is that there are discussions going on between the Hulamin human relations executive and some senior officials within Numsa, and we’re hoping that we’ll be able to get a time and date to be able to sit around the table and start to talk about a resolution to this issue.”

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Source: SA Labour News