As thousands of ArcelorMittal South Africa employees confront the prospect of unemployment, Solidarity has stepped forward to support its members impacted by the closure of the company’s long steel factories in Newcastle and Vereeniging.
Willie Venter, deputy general secretary for the metal and engineering industry at Solidarity, announced that the union is crafting a comprehensive aid program for members facing retrenchment, with Newcastle set to experience the most significant effects and Vereeniging to a lesser degree.
The initiative, as per Venter, is informed by past challenges, notably the closure of Highveld Steel and several mines, where Solidarity was caught off guard. Reflecting on this, Venter stated, “We are better prepared now. As the Solidarity Movement, we have a number of constituencies that specialise in certain areas. So, we will take hands with the other Solidarity constituencies and compile a project plan, and roll out the project, for instance in the Newcastle area.”
This proactive approach, Venter explained, aims to deliver vital assistance to members. Many AMSA employees, having dedicated years to the steel giant without exploring other opportunities, will benefit from Solidarity’s efforts to assist them to refine their CVs, provide interview coaching, and equip them to confidently navigate the job market.
“Together with that, we want to render financial advice on how to wisely spend the retrenchment packages they will be receiving, to benefit the members and their families for the short-term and medium-term, as they look for another position or other work, instead of spending it on nitty gritty stuff that are not necessarily stuff that they need to have. So, we want to take some of our financial advisors with us to assist with that and advise our members on the best way to use their severance pay,” Venter elaborated.
For those transitioning to retirement and sidestepping retrenchment, Venter assured tailored guidance on managing their finances, addressing an unexpected shift that will ripple through families and communities.
“The financial impact of will definitely be hard felt by our members, their families and the communities they live, and we obviously want to intervene and try to get the impact stemmed down, so there is little impact on our members, their families and their respective communities,” he emphasised.
Beyond these measures, Venter highlighted plans for additional support, including free skills-based training to match members with suitable job openings. “We want to direct them to available positions and assist them to apply for these positions and be the best prepared they can be for those positions,” he said.
To ensure success, Solidarity will undertake extensive preparation before visiting Newcastle to connect with members and the community firsthand.
“Before we go down, we want to source jobs, we want to launch a hug project that will mobilise all the regions to make available positions available, so we can communicate these positions to our members in those regions, so they can apply,” Venter noted, underscoring the ongoing strategic planning to soften AMSA’s blow.
With Solidarity set to secure job prospects and bolster employability for those affected, what are your views on this response? Share your insights in the comment section below.
One Response
Strange that the unions have so calmly accepted this outcome. Yet I the past they barricaded the roads and created quite a lot of disturbance just for salary increases. They seem to know a lot more than they are saying or perhaps they are being incentivised not to say……..