Tyre plant shut down leaves workers reeling – Numsa in rescue bid

The National Union of Metal Workers (Numsa) says it won a retrenchment package for workers that improved on what Good Year South Africa was going to pay the workers following the closure of its manufacturing plant in Kariega (formerly Uitenhage). This was revealed during the press briefing by the union leadership on Monday.

“The more pertinent improvements attained were increasing severance pay from two weeks’ remuneration per completed year of service to four weeks’ remuneration, in addition to GYSA [Good Year SA] also paying each worker a lump sum of R100,000,” said Irvin Jim, the general secretary of Numsa.

The retrenchments affect approximately 907 workers, the majority of them members of Numsa. Good Year is closing the plant because it is opting to import tyres instead of manufacturing them locally.

Casual and non-unionised workers covered too

The negotiated benefits are for all affected workers, fixed-term-contract and non-unionised workers included. “Numsa also succeeded to push GYSA to agree that 17 workers that were on fixed-term contracts must also benefit from the negotiated package. 35 workers’ contracts were renewed and extended by GYSA as they will continue to work post the plant closure, and the rest of the workers who also benefited to the quantum of the negotiated package were non-unionised workers, which takes the number to 707,” said the union.

Effect on workers

A number of interviews that Elitsha conducted in the past two weeks with the workers, while the union and the company were locked in negotiations, reveal that the workers were shocked by their imminent retrenchment and felt that they were not adequately consulted. The workers wanted to remain anonymous for fear of being prejudiced.

An employee from Gqeberha said, “Since the beginning of the year we have been working smoothly, and we were not informed that the company will close soon. After we heard that GYSA is closing, some workers have taken sick leave, others are attending counselling and admitted in hospitals.

“The company didn’t show any signs of downsizing and we were not even asked to work short days. But on the 5^th of June our boss called us into a meeting at Despatch which only took 4 minutes 2 seconds to announce the company closure.”

Another male employee from Nobuhle township in Kariega, who started working for GYSA in 2020, said that he was very angry and dissatisfied with the offer that Good Year had proposed at the CCMA, of a severance package of two weeks per completed year of service.

A 35-year-old worker from Qonce (formerly King William’s Town) with 5 years of experience at GYSA said that all GYSA workers were shocked when they received the news that the company was closing its only plant in South Africa. “The news of retrenchment was a real shock to us. We bought cars and houses. As you know as African people, we have extended families who rely on us for financial support,” he said.

IDC and Numsa in bid to take over tyre plant

Good Year did not agree to donate the manufacturing facilities or allow the continued use of its intellectual property, but Numsa managed to convince it to agree not to dispose of its assets that fall outside of its intellectual property. The union claimed this as a victory as they are currently engaging the government and third parties in an attempt to save the manufacturing plant.

“The IDC [Industrial Development Corporation] has made an expression of interest to Good Year to take over the plant infrastructure and both government and Numsa are busy looking for strategic partners that can invest and take over the plant with the intention of saving the jobs that have been lost as the result of Good Year’s decision to close the plant,” Jim said.

One of the ways to save jobs and protect the manufacturing base in South Africa Numsa proposes, is to impose tariffs and standards on imported goods. To protect tyre manufacture, Numsa’s general secretary called for an outright ban on imports: “Just as the state previously intervened to address the crisis in the scrap sector, it must now act decisively to tackle the dumping of tyres and carbon black in our economy. We urge government to move quickly to ban the importation of tyres and carbon black into our local market,” said Jim.

According to Numsa, about 65% of cars on the local market are imported with zero local content. “Given the volumes of vehicles being brought in by brands with no local manufacturing presence, and thus no contribution to quality, living-wage jobs, it is time for government to require that foreign brands seeking market access establish assembly plants in South Africa and employ local workers to manufacture vehicles and components,” he said.