The strike is over, but the lockout has begun – fascinating insights from Neasa’s Gerhard Papenfus

In this interview with Neasa's CEO Gerhard Papenfus, a few concerning facts about the resolution of the metal workers strike have been highlighted. As Papenfus says, "The strike is over, but the lockout has begun." Gerhard sheds light on how Neasa was excluded from the negotiations where they would have represented 3000 employers, who employ 80 000 people. Neasa wants to approach the Labour Court to exempt its members from the Numsa wage settlement deal because as Gerhard said, "What has happened in this strike…this wasn't actually negotiations. It was a form of blackmail." His straightforward account of the ongoings and the facts echo the sentiments of thought-leaders across the country, which are put into vivid perspective when you consider that 250,000 jobs have been lost in the industry over the last five years. And the signing of the increase that has ended this strike is sure to see many more job losses. – LF 

ALEC HOGG:  We do have NEASA's Chief Executive Gerhard Papenfus to discuss the position of this Employers' grouping on the locking out of returning strikers and well, is this strike over.  Gerhard, from your perspective, if I just look at the statements you've been making – and we've been watching your 'not so smiley face' on television lately – not least here on CNBC Africa last night, is the strike actually over if SEIFSA agrees that the workers can go back but your guys are saying you're going to lock them out?

GERHARD PAPENFUS:  If you want to be very technical about this, I said the strike is over, but the lockout has begun.  I'm smiling now.  Look, the industry has between 12 and 14,000 Employers. SEIFSA represents 2000 of those.  Amongst the 2000 are a couple of very serious, big companies.  Five hundred of SEIFSA's top companies comprise a huge percentage of the industry, so they have a deal that was facilitated by the Minister of Labour calling SEIFSA and NUMSA to negotiations – excluding us.  We wrote to the Minister and we said 'Minister, you're making a very big mistake here.  You cannot exclude us from these negotiations'.  The Minister engaged with these guys for two weeks and they came back with a deal.  They came back with a deal of ten percent and SEIFSA's given away almost everything – well, not almost but everything.  They didn't even touch on the issues that we went to the negotiations with, which were very important, namely the entry-level wage and the flexibility of the industry, so we were left out of the negotiations. 

I think the Minister made a huge mistake here.  They came back and said 'here's the deal'.  They briefed us.  'Here's the deal.  Would you please sign it?'  They made a mistake.  We're not going to sign that deal.  It's their deal.  It's a SEIFSA/NUMSA Trade Union deal.

ALEC HOGG:  How many people do you represent?  How big is your constituency?

GERHARD PAPENFUS:  In the metal industry…

ALEC HOGG:  Yes,

GERHARD PAPENFUS:  Three thousand Employers.

ALEC HOGG:  Three thousand Employers, employing how many people?

GERHARD PAPENFUS:  I'd say approximately 80,000.

ALEC HOGG:  Eighty thousand and the Minister of Labour (that is still Mildred Oliphant) decided that you were not sufficiently representative, to talk to.

GERHARD PAPENFUS:  Well, she didn't say anything.  She didn't even acknowledge receipt of our letter.

ALEC HOGG:  How many of those 80.000 workers are unionised, or are members of NUMSA?

GERHARD PAPENFUS:  I'm not sure, Alec.

ALEC HOGG:  But if they are NUMSA members, they're not going to be let back in to work tomorrow.

GERHARD PAPENFUS:  Well, if they are members of NUMSA and all the other unions except Solidarity – Solidarity did not go on strike – they will not go back unless companies want to take them back.  That's open to companies.  If companies feel that they want to take them back, they're welcome to do so, but what we need to do is let them understand that negotiating is a two-way street.  What's happening with our negotiating partners is that they're coming to the table to hear what the unions want and then they go and establish ways and means of how to give it to them.  You can't do that.  These are the types of negotiations that brought this industry to the point where it's at.  This industry is in a downward spiral.  What is interesting is when the CEO of SEIFSA announced the ten percent, he reluctantly agreed to it and he said it would lead to massive job losses.  You don't sign that type of deal.  If that's what the deal entails, don't sign the deal.

ALEC HOGG:  But it does appear as though there are other motivating factors.  In fact, we did have the CEO of SEIFSA in the studio a bit earlier – Kaizer Nyatsumba – and in the discussions, he freely admitted that the economics of this kind of transaction are going to have consequences.  Gerhard, getting back to your people and the guys that you employ (and clearly, you have been following very closely).  If Andrew Goldstone from Invicta is accurate in that there were mobs of 100 or so heavily armed NUMSA members arriving at un-unionised operations to force the workers to not go to work, what do you think is going to happen tomorrow when your members start locking out those same NUMSA members who want to come back to work?

GERHARD PAPENFUS:  Well, I don't know.  What I do know is that you cannot succumb to this.  What has happened in this strike…this wasn't actually negotiations.  It was a form of blackmail.  That's what you do.  You engage in strike action, intimidation, and violence to such an extent that you force companies to stop operation.  If it weren't for this kind of action, the strike would have failed.  There wasn't sufficient popular support for the strike, so they have to engage in violence and intimidation.  The problem is that by succumbing to this, we are setting the tone for future negotiations.  NUMSA has seen this.  This is the deal.  We demand.  Go and strike.  We negotiate with the big guys.  They make the deals and they make the easier deals.  I'm not saying that this was an easy deal.  This was a hard deal, but that is not our deal.  Our deal is even more difficult. 

It's creating a very dim future for this industry and that didn't happen now.  It happened over years.  This industry has lost 700,000 jobs in the last 30 years.  NUMSA said at the outset of these negotiations, that the industry lost 250,000 jobs in the last five years.  Seven hundred over the last 30 years…in terms of employment numbers, we're back at 1972.  We can see where we're going.  In fact, as we said at the negotiations table, if SEIFSA's top company sends me an email, it says the way this is going – in ten years' time there will be no metal industry left.  He's one of the guys who's signing the deal now.

ALEC HOGG:  It's extraordinary.  NEASA's Chief Executive Gerhard Papenfus, putting a lot on the table.  If you've been watching this program from the outset, we did talk to Wilhelm Hertzog from RECM at the top of the program who was giving us the view that perhaps this is in the interests of the big employers because it shakes out the weak and who are the weak, but the smaller companies.