Trade union Solidarity today confirmed that it had been informed of proposed retrenchments at Girlock Brakes as the company would, for various reasons, not be able to meet its operational requirements any more.

According to Marius Croucamp, Deputy General Secretary of Solidarity’s Metal and Engineering Industry, some of the reasons the company gave for the retrenchments relate to a 95% reduction of a local Volkswagen contract and imports of brakes from China, among others. “According to the company, these changes in the market environment forced them to reduce their workforce if they still wanted to remain a viable business,” Croucamp said.

Croucamp says that is precisely why Solidarity decided to launch a campaign to ensure job retention in South Africa. “This campaign, which will be officially launched on 30 March, will focus specifically on the steel, manufacturing and engineering industry to address the challenges this industry and related industries face, and to come up with purposeful plans to help save those industries,” Croucamp said.