A three-week long strike started by truck drivers in South Africa is reported to have ended following renegotiations involving the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Aribitration (CCMA).
The strike action, which hit inbound supplies to carmaker plants in the region, including General Motors’ plants in Port Elizabeth, started with a dispute over pay between truck drivers and the Road Freight Employers' Association (RFEA). Striking drivers had demanded a 12% wage increase per year until 2014, while employers offered a 10% increase in the first year and 8% in the second.
In an official statement GM said that the strike had disrupted material supply activities at its vehicle assembly facility but that it had had a contingency plan in place that enabled it to continue building vehicles, though not at normal production levels. Normal services were maintained from Port Elizabeth port.
“Actions of this nature affect the competitiveness of business operations and send a very negative message about doing business in this country,” said GM in the statement, but it added that the end of the strike meant that normal production would be resumed going forward.
