The Labour Court has interdicted a strike by the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) at Macsteel over withdrawn employee benefits.

The union, whose planned strike was found by the court to be unprotected, now has until February to give reasons why the interdict against their strike should not stand.

Numsa announced that it served Macsteel with notice of intention to strike on Wednesday, accusing the company of unilaterally withdrawing employee benefits.

The union said the steel manufacturer, merchandiser, and distributor's treatment of workers' demands amounted to a provocation and that management left workers had no option but to down tools.

This is not the first time that Macsteel and Numsa have locked horns in recent years. Last year, Numsa called off a strike at Macsteel after the company agreed to redeploy workers that were due to be retrenched at the time instead of letting them go.

In a statement released on Tuesday evening, Numsa secretary-general Irvin Jim said it tried to negotiate with Macsteel to have the benefits restored to workers for two years, but that the employer would not listen to the union’s demands.

"Macsteel used to subsidise employees' medical aid benefits by 50%, but for the past two years, Macsteel management unilaterally withdrew this benefit without consulting workers or the union. The union demands that Macsteel reinstate the medical aid within 48 hours," said Jim.

Jim said the union also demanded that Macsteel reinstate an accidental death benefit, which was also withdrawn, within 48 hours. The union said it would kick off its strike on Wednesday if Macsteel did not respond. 

Macsteel said in a statement that the claims by Numsa were unfounded, calling the strike "an effort to create unnecessary conflict". The company called on the union to withdraw the claims about employee benefits.

"There is a clear distinction between scheduled and non-scheduled employees in this regard. Non-scheduled employees are governed by the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, whereas scheduled employees are governed by the Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council (MEIBC). 

"The description of medical aid benefits on the payslips of non-scheduled employees changed in 2018 where it no longer reflected as a separate line item, but was included in their remuneration," Macsteel said.

The statement said non-scheduled employees' remuneration was increased with a value equal to the company's medical aid contribution and employees were not left worse off financially.

"All scheduled employees employed by the company as at the end of July 2018 continued to receive a 50% medical aid contribution as a separate line item on their payslips," the statement said.

Macsteel said all those employed after July 2018 entered into their contracts with Macsteel on the basis that the medical aid is no longer compulsory and that any employee that wanted to join medical aid would be liable for a premium. 

In response to Macsteel's statement, Numsa spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola said the case did not deal with the merits of the case or reasons for the strike.

"This case is about the unilateral change in conditions and the court did not make a determination on that. It simply said that the process to call for a strike was not proper followed hence the interdict," said Hlubi-Majola. 

Hlubi-Majola said the dispute on unilateral change will be heard in early November under the auspices of the MEIBC.