A week-long strike by workers at South African auto-parts companies, which shut a plant belonging to Volkswagen AG last week, will continue after unions rejected an offer to raise wages by as much as 10 percent.
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa said it wants the 10 percent increase to apply equally to all employees in the industry and not just to the lowest paid.
“The revised offer does not accommodate all the employees in the motor sector in terms of a personal guaranteed increase,” Numsa said in an e-mailed statement today.
A continuing strike may force plants owned by Toyota Motor Corp., Bayerische Motoren Werke AG and Mercedes-Benz AG to close as they are starved of supplies, the Retail Motor Industry Organization said last week. Thousands of gas stations have been shut in Africa’s largest economy as their workers have been part of the same labor action. Workers are asking for a 15 percent pay increase.
South Africa’s car and car-parts industry accounts for about 6 percent of gross domestic product and is the country’s biggest manufacturing exporter.
