General Motors suspended production at its main South African plant after a strike hit parts supplies, the U.S. automaker said on Friday, making it the latest victim of relentless labor unrest in Africa's most advanced economy.
Violence erupted on some picket lines on Thursday, as the wage strike by the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) dealt a further blow to an economy damaged by a five-month walkout in the platinum industry that only ended last week.
It will also further unnerve investors, who are increasingly frustrated by the unremitting labor strife and perceptions that Pretoria is unable, or unwilling, to rein in militant unions.
GM's suspension of output at its plant in the coastal city of Port Elizabeth showed the escalating impact of the walkout, after the union rejected an increased wage offer from the Steel and Engineering Industry Federation of Southern Africa (SEIFSA) late on Thursday.
NUMSA's more than 200,000 members went on strike on Tuesday, an action that employers say will cost the economy more than $28 million U.S. a day in lost output.
Employer group SEIFSA said it offered wage increases of up to 10% late on Thursday, revised from 8% previously. The union wants hikes of 12% to 15%, more than double the inflation rate.
NUMSA President Irvin Jim said on Friday he believed the two sides were "not very far from each other". He told media outlets that issues like a youth wage subsidy and the removal of labour brokers were key to a settlement to end the strike.
Other sticking points have been NUMSA's insistence that any agreement be for one year, while the employers want to lock down a three-year deal.
South Africa's labour minister is due to meet with the union and employers on Friday, a spokesman told reporters, adding the government was "quite hopeful" a deal could be reached soon.
