南非金属工匠罢工宣告结束

 

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) said its 220,000 striking members had "unanimously" accepted the employers' offer. 

 

The deal promised three-year fixed¹ annual wage increases of 10% for Numsa's lowest-paid workers. 

 

But it has seen both sides compromise heavily on their initial offerings.

 

 

The strike was across South Africa's steel and engineering sectors³. According to employers, it cost the engineering sector² about R300m (£17m) a day.

 

The South African department of labour and a national mediation⁴ council had to step in to arbitrate（仲裁） early on during negotiations⁵ as they were in deadlock⁶. 

 

Numsa lowered its initial demand of an increase between 12 and 15%, while Steel and the Engineering Industries Federation⁷ of South Africa (Seifsa), the body representing employers, increased theirs, up from an opening 7%.

 

Seifsa chief executive Kaizer Nyatsumba said he hoped "all parties would honour the letter and spirit of the agreement". 

 

Numsa's general secretary Irvin Jim said the final agreement had come as "a product of sweat and bitter struggles by our toiling⁸ workers for a living wage… and a four week long resolute⁹（坚决的） battle to do away with colonial apartheid-era wage dispensation in the engineering and metals sector."

 

The strike, which started on 1 July, saw 220,000 members down tools, and affected¹⁰ about 12,000 companies, and carmakers including Toyota Motor and General Motors.

 

The strike came almost immediately after the country's record five-month-long strike on the platinum¹¹ belt.

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