[miningmx.com] – HARMONY Gold Mining Company said a proposal that
would result in an estimated 1.5% average increase in labour costs at its operating
mines was “gaining acceptance’ within the 40,000-strong organisation.
However, there was no clear progress yet in negotiations with unions representing
5,756 workers at Harmony’s 180,000oz/year Kusasalethu mine in Carletonville, where
an illegal strike has been underway since October 3.
If an agreement was forged with the mine’s unions, it would provide another
promising signal that the contagion of illegal strikes in the gold industry was coming
to an end. Gold Fields reported earlier today that the remaining 2,800 striking workers
at its Beatrix 4 shaft returned to work this morning. Some 6,200 workers returned to
work at the mine’s 1,2, and 3 shafts.
Workers at Gold Fields’ KDC West mine have until 2pm today to return to work or face
dismissal in terms of an ultimatum served on labour earlier this week by Gold Fields
CEO, Nick Holland. Meanwhile, 772 or 941 workers at Blyvoor, a mine in Carletonville
owned by Village Main, returned to work on October 17.
“We are hopeful it [the agreement] will get signed in short order, by which I mean
this week,’ said Graham Briggs, CEO of Harmony, in an interview. “There seems to be
some acceptance,’ he said of a proposal that mirrors other tabled offers in which
lower paid workers are ordered into a higher wage bracket.
Briggs said labour costs were expected to increase 1.5% as a result of the agreement
that had been tabled as a proposal by the Chamber of Mines originally and which
involved “. doing away with Category 3 so that entry level in the gold mining industry
becomes Category 4 with a consequential adjustment to the entry level rate.’ among
other proposals. At the time, unions rejected the offer.
The increase in the average wage bill was in addition to the 9% average salary
increase Harmony signed last year in terms of the two-year wage agreement, and
effective from July 1.
“When you go further than that (the additional 1.5% increase in labour costs), then
some of the operations run into trouble,’ he said. Analysts suggested this week that
the gold industry would have to settle a 10% increase in wages across the board in
line with settlements provided by Lonmin and Impala Platinum.
None of Harmony’s other mines, which are predominantly in the Free State province,
were affected by the strikes. “I think this could be related to the average age of our
staff, which is between 48 and 49 years. As they are more senior, they are probably
better paid,’ he said. The average age of workers at AngloGold Ashanti’s and Gold
Fields’ mines was about 6.5 years younger, Briggs said.
Commenting on future labour relations, Briggs said that conditions had changed. “The
recent strikes raises the question of how we talk to workers without a labour structure
that we’ve had for 25 years. I think things are going to change,’ he said.
Harmony employs 40,000 people at its operations, including 6,000 contractors. The
company produced 1.3 million ounces of gold in the 2011 financial year.
