Pay deal reached in S Africa metal workers’ strike

More than 100,000 striking South African engineers and metal industry workers are to return to work after a two-week strike, having reached a pay deal with employers, their union said Sunday.

Some 110,000 staff downed tools on July 4 in pursuit of a 13 percent pay rise.

The National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (Numsa) said bosses had agreed to a 10-percent increase and staff will return to work within 48 hours.

The mid-year winter months are known as “strike season” in South Africa, where many contracts expire at the end of the fiscal year on June 30.

About 70,000 workers at oil refineries and related industries went on strike Monday demanding increased pay — causing at least 200 petrol stations to run dry, according to the Fuel Retailers’ Association.