By: Mdu Ntuli
House Agreement companies by their nature are stable and most are big companies, therefore they offer job security to the labour market in our sector.
Looking at the list of who’s who in the House Agreement, one can safely say this section is an “˜elite’.
Why are they not part of the main agreement (MA) that covers all the engineering sector?
The reason for this is two-fold: first being the attitudes and perceptions of general members and shop stewards and second being that of employers towards centralised bargaining.
Let’s look at shop stewards’ attitudes and perceptions. The bargaining process is the core function of the union. Shop stewards together with union officials execute this process.
Therefore if you were to remove this process from shop stewards at plant level, you would be removing their most important function. They would just be reduced to hearing and monitoring the agreement.
The attitudes of the workers stem from the attitudes and perceptions of the shop stewards plus the ignorance on their part on what the Main Agreement consists of. They fear an erosion of benefits if they were to move to centralised bargaining.
The attitudes of the employers stem from fear of solidarity of the workers, the might of Numsa at centralised bargaining level and the fact that they know, on some sections of their agreements, they give less when compared to the Main Agreement.
The table below summarises some of the key conditions found in the Main Agreement (MA) as compared with House Agreements. Check the MA conditions against yours and you decide which one is superior!
Which is better – House Agreement (HA) or Main Agreement (MA)?
Check the MA conditions against yours and you decide which one is superior.
MA Conditions
Best
Worst
Hours of work
40 hours
Main Agreement plus all other HA companies (except for Iscor and Assmang Aluminium) – 40 hours
Iscor – 45 hours + 3 hours compulsory overtime
Assmang Aluminium 40 normal hours and 2 hours overtime
Night shift
Normal + 15%
Hulett 20%
Iscor = nothing
Day Shift
Normal + 7,5%
Hulett = 15%
Iscor = nothing
Payment for work on Sundays
2 x normal rate of pay
MA, Hulett, Highveld Steel, Columbus = 2 x normal rate of pay
Iscor, Hillside , Bayside = 1,5 x normal
Payment for work on public holidays
1.33 x normal
Hillside = 2,5 x normal
MA = normal x 1.33
Overtime payment
1.5 x normal
MA plus all other HA companies except Columbus = 1,5 x normal
Columbus ; first 6 hours = 1.33 x normal; thereafter 1.5 x normal
Paid annual leave
3 consecutive weeks per annum
MA, Iscor = 21 days
Hillside , Bayside = 25 days after 5 years service
Highveld Steel = 14 days
Maternity leave
6 months unpaid after 1 year service. If she is a member of the Engineering Sick Pay Fund she can claim 50% of her wage for up to 130 days.
Columbus = 4 months paid, 1 month annual leave, 1 month unpaid
Hulett (not covered)
Paid sick leave
30 working days in 3 year cycle (5-day work-week); 36 working days in 3-year cycle (6-day work-week)
Highveld Steel = 30 working days after completing 6 months continuous service
MA, Iscor, Hulett
Family responsibility leave
3 days per annual cycle
Columbus Steel = 5 days per occurrence (in case of death of direct family member)
MA, Iscor, Hulett,
Termination of employment
2 weeks notice after 6 months employment
Hillside , Bayside, Highveld Steel = 30 days
Hulett = one working day’s notice
Severance payment
1 week’s wages per year of service plus weekly contribution to any applicable employee benefit fund for each completed year
Bayside = 12 working days per completed years + 42 days salary in lieu of notice + R10 000 training grant
Highveld Steel = 1 weeks wages for each year of service
Insurance of tools
Max R2000 cover
Hulett = R5000 maximum cover
Hillside = not covered
The information in the table is taken from a study done in 2004 by the Labour Research Service for the Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council: A Comparative Study of the Terms and Conditions of Employment between the Main Agreement and Selected House Agreements in the Metal and Engineering Sector in South Africa.