Pretoria – The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) on Thursday announced the end of the interdicted strike at Ford, saying it secured a R20 000 payment for each striking worker to return to work.
NUMSA called on all striking workers at Ford to report for their shifts tomorrow morning, (Friday, 12 July 2024), commencing at 06:00.
The union said it was “pleased to announce that it has successfully negotiated the return to work of its members at Ford South Africa following the strike that commenced on 4th of July”.
Last week Ford secured an interim order to end the strike from the Labour Court and subsequently threatened over 3 000 striking workers with dismissal if they failed to return to work.
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After days of marathon behind-the-scenes negotiations with Ford management to address the legitimate grievances of workers, NUMSA said it was able to secure an agreement that all workers would be able to return to work without any disciplinary sanction for participating in the strike.
In addition, NUMSA said it “also negotiated that Ford pays workers R20 000 for each worker as a deadlock breaking mechanism and to pay these monies as soon as possible following the return of workers to the workplace”.
While Ford does not regard this payment as acceding to the strike demand of workers for profit-sharing, NUMSA said it was of the firm view that “a very important foundation has been laid” for workers.
NUMSA General Secretary, Irvin Jim said, “This is a victory for workers”.
Jim added: “As a union, we believe that the working class must benefit from the profits that are generated because workers create wealth.
“It would not have been possible if our members had not been united in their demands”.
