Multiple charges filed after a protest action at Blomo Plastics
The damage to the building, office equipment, the vehicles and items stolen is estimated at R920 000.
Protest action at Blomo Plastics, on Zinc Road, left 11 injured last Thursday.
ER24’s communications officer Russel Meiring says “ER24 paramedics, along with Life Healthcare, arrived on the scene at 2.27pm to find numerous people on the premises.
“Paramedics assessed the patients and found that eleven people had sustained minor to moderate injuries.
“The patients were treated for their injuries and thereafter eight were transported by ambulance while three others were transported privately to a nearby private hospital,” says Meiring.
The protest action was part of the continuing strike action in the plastics industry that started on October 15.
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According to the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa), one of the unions leading the strike, they are demanding the following:
• Plastics workers’ wages and other terms and conditions of employment must be regulated by the council’s Main Agreement, the Metal Engineering Industries Bargaining Council (MEIBC)
• Plastics workers’ wages and other terms and conditions of employment must be the same as those in the rest of the industry covered by the MEIBC council’s Main Agreement. We demand that there must be no downward variation of plastics workers’ terms and conditions as compared to those workers in the rest of the industry that are covered by the council’s Main Agreement.
• Numsa remains resolute in demanding a 15% wage increase. In the period 2014 to 2017, these notorious employers short-changed workers and denied them an increase.
• We further demand that the settlement reached in the MEIBC from 2017 to 2019 must be applied to the plastics sector.
• We also demand that plastics employers agree they will do all that is necessary to support the request of the Minister of Labour for the extension of the Main Agreement. This will ensure the agreed wages and other substantive conditions of employment relating to plastic sector employees will be applicable to all who are employed by the plastics employers who are not a party to a plastics sector employer’s organisation but fall under the scope of the MEIBC.
• Numsa demands that employers in the plastics sector must support the extension of the Main Agreement on substantive wages, terms and conditions of employment, as supported by the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa).
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Irvin Jim, the Numsa general secretary, said in a press release on October 12, “At least 10 000 Numsa members will down tools to defend their rights and demand a #LivingWageToday.”
He also said: “This is a national strike which will affect at least 450 companies in the sector.
“Any industry that depends on plastic, whether it’s the cell phone, IT, or automotive sector, will be affected.
“This is an indefinite strike and will continue until such time that employers meet our demands.”
Meanwhile, Blomo Plastics are counting the costs of Thursday’s protest action.
According to Springs Police spokesperson, Capt Johannes Ramphora, six cases have been opened at the Springs Police Station since Thursday.
Charges include business robbery, two cases of malicious damage to property, assault with the intention to inflict grievous bodily harm, common robbery and theft out of a motor vehicle.
The damage to the building, office equipment, to vehicles and items stolen, is estimated at R920 000.
According to the police, it is alleged that it was the people who were on strike who damaged the building and assaulted some of the employees.
At this stage, it is unclear if the perpetrators were employees of Blomo Plastics or affiliates of Numsa.
There were unconfirmed rumours that the owner of the company was among those who were injured.
Despite our attempts to get a comment from the company, they did not respond in time of going to print.
Neither did Numsa respond in time to meet the publication ’s deadline regarding the allegations of violence by workers.
The Addie will follow this story as it develops.
