According SA Labour News referring to a report by Roy Cokayne on page 20 of Business Report of 28 October 2016:
“the retail motor industry has accused the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) of undermining the centralised bargaining process for a new three-year agreement by engaging in “back door” negotiations with individual employers.
Jakkie Olivier of the Retail Motor Industry Organisation (RMI) claimed Numsa was negotiating at a centralised bargaining level, while at the same time trying to engage with employers at plant level, which could not be allowed. RMI has conveyed a message to Numsa to stop this two-tier bargaining and let the RMI know in which forum it wanted to negotiate. “These back door negotiations are not helping anyone and undermining the centralised bargaining process,” Olivier said. Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim countered by stressing the RMI did not represent Numsa members and could not tell the union whom it could speak to. A certificate of non-resolution of a dispute was issued to Numsa earlier this month allowing the union to give the industry 48 hours’ notice of a strike. Jim confirmed Numsa had not given the RMI any notice of strike action and was still consulting its members and meeting employers”.
Numsa accused of undermining retail motor centralised bargaining with ‘back door’ talks