[miningmx] — EMPLOYEES in the coal sector may soon stand to benefit from wage
increases based on job grade adjustments, similar to those afforded to striking
workers in the gold sector, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said on
Thursday.
Speaking at a short ceremony where unions and the Chamber of Mines (CoM)
formally agreed to a series of grade and wage adjustments for workers in the gold
sector, NUM general secretary Frans Baleni said a meeting between the same parties
was scheduled for later in the day where the lot of coal sector workers would be
discussed.
Both gold and coal employers committed to a grade review process during formal
wage negotiations in 2011. The issue again came to the fore, especially in the gold
sector, when the recent spate of wildcat strikes brought a large proportion of South
Africa’s major gold operations to a standstill.
According to the new agreement, the lowest paid workers’ (except novices) basic
salary would increase from R4,840 to R5,000 per month. Other categories of workers
would, as a result, stand in line for increases of between 1.5% and 2%. The CoM’s
chief negotiator, Elize Strydom, said around 75% of the 160,000 workers at the
organisation’s gold member companies would stand to benefit from the new deal.
Baleni said a similar arrangement was needed for the coal sector.
“Workers [in the coal sector] have been very disciplined and peaceful, yet there is
reluctance from the coal employers to come up with something,’ Baleni said in the
presence of CoM officials. “We’re pleading with the coal section of the Chamber of
Mines because workers are of the view they only get attention when they embark on
anarchy.’
Baleni said all the minor strikes which have hit some coal companies in recent weeks
were protected and within the legal provisions for wage bargaining.
