[miningmx.com] – THE National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) will recommend an improved wage offer from gold mining companies, but believed the tabled increase was still unfair, said Bloomberg News.
Citing NUM general-secretary, David Sipunzi, the newswire service said the final decision on whether to accept the increase – in which guaranteed pay would be lifted by as much as 32% to R13,728 and R14,611/month for entry-level workers over three years – lay with members.
“We will recommend the members accept this, but they have the final say,” Sipunzi told Bloomberg News. “We don’t believe this is a fair offer. If they say no, we will agree with them,” he added.
The Association of Mineworkers & Construction Union (AMCU), however, said it would reject the offer. “The more militant AMCU union always posed the biggest risk to the gold sector of strike activity,” said Investec Securities.
“We are not surprised that this union will not back down given last years prolonged strikes in the platinum sector and the possibility of more job losses,” it said.
The producers are seeking to avoid a repeat of last year’s five-month strike in South Africa’s platinum industry that crippled production, shrank economic growth and led to job losses, said Bloomberg News.
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