The Electrical Engineering and Allied Industries Association is an employers associationfor the electrical engineering and allied industries in South Africa. The EEAIA was established in 1936 to promote the interests of individual members and that of the industry in general and it also acts as a common meeting ground for companies in the industry where knowledge, ideas and experience are exchanged and stimulated. It is federated to SEIFSA (the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africthe umbrella body for 27 independent employer associations which represent the diverse sectors constituting the metals and engineering industries today. These associations have a combined membership of close to 2 000 companies, which makes SEIFSA one of the largest and most influential employer federations in South Africrepresenting its member associations on a wide variety of business and other organisations critical to the success of the industry as a whole. The EEAIA also represents the interests of member companies in all industry negotiations with the industry’s trade unions, not only on wages and other conditions of employment but also on the industry’s benefit funds which provide benefits to employees such as pensions, permanent disability and sick pay benefits.