In this article, Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa) CEO Lucio Trentini writes about the importance of collective bargaining as the metals and engineering sector prepares for the start of the 2024 main agreement wage and conditions of employment negotiations. Monday, next week marks the commencement of the 2024 main agreement wage and conditions of employment negotiations with a dialogue among all key stakeholders to explore, examine and unpack various scenarios in anticipation of the forthcoming negotiations.