South Africa’s work days lost due to strike action rose more than 30-fold in the six months through June compared with the same period a year earlier, driving up wage settlements between labour unions and companies. | News24_Business
South Africa lost 1.6 million work days due to industrial action in the first half of 2022, up from 45 000 in the prior year, data in South African Reserve Bank’s Quarterly Bulletin published Tuesday show. The figure is calculated by multiplying the number of employees on strike with the days they were absent from work, the central bank said in response to emailed questions.
The increase in working days lost, particularly in the second quarter, was driven by a prolonged wage-related strike at a large gold-mining company, the central bank said. About 31 000 workers at Sibanye Stillwater’s three gold mines in South Africa embarked on a for higher wages from early March. The protests hit the producer’s gold output, which slumped 63% year-on-year in the six months through June.
Dissatisfaction over pay was the biggest cause of industrial action in the second quarter, accounting for 99% of work days lost and 85% of strikes, the central bank said, citing data from Andrew Levy Employment Publications. That drove the average wage settlement rate agreed through collective bargaining up to 6.1% in the first half of 2022, from 4.5% a year earlier, it said.
“Despite the increase, the average wage settlement rate was still below the average headline consumer price inflation rate of 6.2% in the first half of 2022,” the central bank said. Eskom’s one-year pay raise of 7% agreed with striking workers in July prompted a warning from S&P Global Ratings that it could set a
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