[miningmx.com] – MEMBERS of the Association of Mineworkers & Construction Union (AMCU) voted on Sunday to go on strike at the mines of AngloGold Ashanti, Harmony Gold and Sibanye Gold.
In an article by Reuters, AMCU president, Joseph Mathunjwa, is quoted to have said: “The whole gold sector has voted for a strike”. This was after a show of hands by about 5,000 AMCU members at a rally in Carletonville, west of Johannesburg, the newswire said.
A strike is a formality at Sibanye Gold because the gold producer has made an earlier agreement with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) conditional on all unions signing it. However, it’s unclear what may now happen at Harmony and AngloGold.
They signed an agreement with the NUM on October 2 and have the right, in terms of South Africa’s Labour Relations Act, to extend the wage agreement to minority unions, including the AMCU. This may be challenged in court by AMCU.
At Sibanye Gold, the NUM and two other unions – Solidarity and UASA – are about 300 members short of a majority and, therefore, Sibanye would be unable to extend the offer. The company has said, however, that it would not increase its offer for AMCU raising the prospects of prolonged strike activity – a development that would inflict deep wounds on the gold sector which is battling with high costs.
In the October 2 wage agreement, the NUM and AngloGold and Harmony agreed to increases of up to 13% for lowest paid workers over a three-year period.
Commenting on the deal, Elize Strydom, the chamber’s lead negotiator, said: “This is the only deal that will be agreed. We cannot and will not negotiate different deals with different parties”.
The basics of the wage agreement reached with NUM, Solidarity and UASA is for increases of between 10% and 13% in basic wages for entry level employees in each of the three year of the deal.
This was equivalent to an increase of between R25,000 and R30,000 per employee over a three year period, the chamber said.
Guaranteed wages for entry-level employees, excluding bonuses and overtime, will rise to between R97,000 and R106,000 per year in the third year. Incentive-based pay such as bonuses and overtime is a large part of the total wage bill and can boost employees’ take-home pay, the chamber said in its statement.
“The gold industry is in a perilous state, with more than 50% of operations currently marginal or not making a profit. More than 30,000 jobs have been lost in our industry over the last decade, with many more jobs currently under threat,” said Strydom.
“The offers on the table are substantial and are the most our industry can afford,” she added.
