[miningmx.com] — THE entire mining sector has to abandon existing
wage agreements and start an expanded round of central bargaining negotiations –
according to the National Union of Mineworkers’ (NUM) plan to restore peace in the
sector and protect the role of the unions.
All recognised unions, including AMCU, must be involved, but not the working
committees – such as those with which Lonmin is currently negotiating, said NUM
General Secretary Frans Baleni on Friday.
The platinum industry must speedily set up a central bargaining forum to consider
working conditions, regardless of the current wage agreements.
The gold and coal industries’ forum, under the auspices of the Chamber of Mines,
should bring forward next year’s scheduled negotiations as soon as possible.
This strategy was decided upon at a special meeting of the union’s central executive
committee on Friday. The negotiations between NUM, AMCU and a committee of the
striking workers on the Lonmin strike, however, yielded little result.
Lonmin’s first offer was unequivocally rejected. The working committee presented the
offer to the workers stationed around Wonderkop, but it had a frosty reception. The
workers returned to the negotiating table with a “new’ demand of R12,499 – R1 less
than before.
Lonmin has now abandoned its earlier insistence that the strike should end before the
company is prepared to negotiate.
“NUM cannot respond to Lonmin’s offer as we cannot safely meet with our members
to get their reaction.
“If we accept the offer and they reject it, what do we do then?’ said Baleni. “This
business of workers representing themselves simply does not work. They are much
better off with a union.’ If a platinum bargaining forum is created and workers don’t
trust the existing unions, “a new union must be created’, he said.
– Sake24
