At the conclusion of 2004 wage negotiations Numsa agreed together with employers to meet with the government to attempt to improve forecourt attendant’s wages because it (government) sets the price of petrol.
“As Numsa we met with the former Minister Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka in March 2005. She agreed that our members must earn a living wage and instructed officials in her department to find a way in which we can deal with this matter,” says Lucas Mashabela, a Hlanganani regional bargaining representative who works at BP Clubview in Tshwane.
“The problem is the current method which the department is using to calculate the retail margin,” says regional motor organiser, Elias Kubeka. “This method was inherited from the apartheid government. It allowed the exploitation of forecourt attendants by petrol companies, petrol stations and the Government itself.”
Mashabela said this process could have been concluded some months ago. The time was wasted by government and employers.
Employers have reneged on their commitment while the Department of Minerals and Energy has kept on postponing meetings. Now there is a commitment from government to change the method. Our demand for a living wage should be taken into consideration in their new formula otherwise we will have to use our muscles.
On September 19, we will have a further meeting with employers to draw a time frame to implement the project.
Mashabela warns that we must not think that the government and employers are happy with this process. “They are not happy at all. If they can find any other way of avoiding it, they will not hesitate to do so.”
Kubheka says the only way to make sure that the process is sustained and to achieve a living wage is if every forecourt attendant is a Numsa member and if every local holds a forecourt attendants’ shop stewards council.