South African carworkers strike ends with new pay deal

An eight-day strike by South African car workers has ended with an agreement on pay.

The Automobile Manufacturers Employers Organisation (Ameo) and the metal workers union, Numsa, signed a new wage agreement on Friday.

The three-year deal will see workers getting a 10% increase this year, and 9% rises during the next two years.

Numsa was asking for a 15% increase, more than three times the country’s rate of inflation.

Ameo, whose members include local franchise-holders of Toyota and Volkswagen, said the strike had been highly damaging and had stopped production of some 17,000 vehicles, a loss that it said would be difficult to recover.

A statement from Ameo said longer term effects could also be serious: “The strike and resultant loss of volume has caused significant reputational damage to the automobile manufacturing industry in South Africa as a stable production location and this could have repercussions in terms of our ability to attract future investments going forward.”

The industry produces more than 400,000 vehicles a year, most of which is exported to neighbouring African states.

It claims to account for up to 7% of South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP).

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11041595

Greek economy shrinks a further 1.5%

Greek have undergone a very down-turning year… economic recession, shrinking economy, debts and rescuing.

An article from BBC News.

The Greek economy shrank by a further 1.5% in the second quarter of the year, Greece’s statistics agency has said.

That adds to 0.8% decline in GDP recorded for the first three months of the year, suggesting that the decline in the economy is speeding up.

Greece’s GDP has fallen 3.5% since this time last year.

The country has been forced to bring in severe public spending cuts since it sparked a Europe-wide debt crisis earlier this year.

Greece’s statistics agency Elstat said the “significant reduction” in public spending had contributed to the deepening of the country’s recession.

Economists said they were not surprised by figures, and blamed the “uncertainty” surrounding the government’s austerity measures for the falls in GDP.

“Economic activity seems to be declining at an accelerated pace due to high uncertainty and the gradual implementation of austerity measures,” observed Nikos Magginas, senior economist at the National Bank of Greece.

The total decline in GDP during 2010 is forecast to hit 4%, according to the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.

A raft of austerity measures has been announced by Greece since December last year.

They include a pay freeze for public sector workers and reform to the tax and pensions systems.

(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-10951857)