Gold miners reject pay offer – report

[miningmx.com] — STRIKING gold miners have rejected the industry’s
latest wage offer, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said on Thursday,
according to a report by Reuters.

NUM wasn’t immediately available to confirm the report. Spokesperson for the
Chamber of Mines (CoM), Vusi Mabena, however said that the parties were still locked
in negotiations about the issue. The CoM negotiates on behalf of South Africa’s three
major gold producers: AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields and Harmony Gold.

The offer was made on Tuesday at a meeting between CoM, NUM, Solidarity and
UASA, and followed an undertaking by employers last week to fast-track changes in
job categories.

Workers at the major gold mines have for more than a month sidestepped the Cosatu-
affiliated NUM in a wave of wildcat strikes which has cost the sector around 8,000oz
in lost production every day.

CoM’s offer was conditional on employees returning for work by the end of the week.