Editing Economy of South Africa (section)

===Trade unions===
{{main|Trade unions in South Africa}}
[[2007 South African public servants' strike|Since 2007]] the South African unions representing public sector workers recurrently went on strike, demanding pay rises significantly above inflation, in a practice that some experts argue is suppressing job growth, harming millions of South Africans who are out of a job.<ref name="nyt0910"/>

In August and September 2010, South African unions organised a crippling four-week national strike involving 1.3&nbsp;million public sector workers, demanding an 8.6% wage increase. The strike ended after the government had raised its 5.2% wage increase to 7.5%. The deal swelled state spending by about 1%.<ref name="guard-strike">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/sep/06/south-africa-strike-suspended|title=South African unions suspend public sector strike|author=David Smith|work=the Guardian|date=6 September 2010 |access-date=11 June 2015}}</ref>

Protesters sought to block hospitals, and South African media have reported numerous acts of violence against health and education staff who insisted on going to work. Volunteers and army medics were called in to help at hospitals, and some patients were moved to private medical facilities.<ref name="guard-strike"/>

There is a persistent wage differential between unionised and non-unionised workers in South Africa, suggesting that unions are keeping wages higher for their members, thereby posing additional challenges to the unemployment problem.<ref name=uninsa/>

In July 2014, amidst a national strike by 220,000 metalworkers, [[General Motors]] temporarily shut down its vehicle assembly plant, frustrating its plans to build 50,000 cars a year in the country. "The ongoing labour disruptions are harming the South African economy and are affecting the country's image around the globe," the company said in a statement at the time.<ref name="GMsouthafrica">{{cite news|title=South Africa arm of General Motors hit by wage strike shuts plant|url=http://www.southafricanews.net/index.php/sid/223524973/scat/371b1b8643d479c1/ht/South-Africa-arm-of-General-Motors-hit-by-wage-strike-shuts-plant|access-date=5 July 2014|publisher=South Africa News.Net|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714213434/http://www.southafricanews.net/index.php/sid/223524973/scat/371b1b8643d479c1/ht/South-Africa-arm-of-General-Motors-hit-by-wage-strike-shuts-plant|archive-date=14 July 2014}}</ref>