Johannesburg - The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) has welcomed the 8% wage increase for workers at Menzies Aviation following lengthy wage talks with the employer.
Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim said the negotiations began in March and they concluded an agreement on July 17.
The agreement is broken down in the following way:
1. 8% wage increase for workers whose rate is from R40 per hour and below.
2. 7,25% wage increase for workers earning between R40 and R50 per hour.
3. 6,8% wage increase for all those whose rate per hour is above R50.
4. For workers who fall under sectoral determination, and in this case, it is the cleaners, they received an increase in March which was 6,5%. In terms of this agreement we agreed that they must get a top up of 1% and therefore those who earn below R50 per hour, their hourly rate will increase from 6,5% to 7,5%.
5. For those who earn more than R50 and above the hourly rate, they will receive an increase of 6,8%. (It has changed from 6,5% to 6,8% because they are line managers, like supervisors, duty managers, and controllers). The focus was to adjust and grant bigger increases for workers who are lower paid.
6. It is a one year agreement effective from 1 May to 30 April 2024. It was signed on the 17th of July therefore it will be backdated. Workers will receive back pay in the next payroll cycle which is in August because we signed after payroll for July had closed.
Jim also said that the agreement also states that workers on fixed term contracts would be made permanent, if they have been in those positions for a minimum of 3 months, in line with section 198(B) of the Labour Relations Act as amended.
“This is a major achievement for the union because this will bring dignity, increased benefits and most importantly, job security. A minimum of 80 workers will benefit from this change.
“For the first time we negotiated an ‘Acting allowance’ which will be paid to any employee who is acting in a position for more than seven days. That person will receive up to 25% of their basic salary and it cannot exceed more than R3000 per month, and the amount cannot be greater than the current rate paid for the position.
“We have also negotiated an improvement in the ‘Long Service Award’ to ensure that the employer rewards workers who have been at the company for a long time, starting from 5 years and ending at 20 years of service,” he said.