[miningmx.com] — THE National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) would
present wage demands of as high as R18,000 per month to the Chamber of Mines
(CoM) should the two parties and other unions agree to bring wage negotiations for
the gold and coal sector – scheduled for 2013 – forward to this year.
In an attempt to wrestle back the initiative as mineworkers continue to sidestep
established bargaining structures during the current spate of unprotected wildcat
strikes across the industry, NUM said that it would meet the CoM again on Wednesday
with the view of reopening existing wage agreements. The current agreements for the
gold and coal sector are valid until June 30 2013, while the issue of bringing
negotiations forward was first mooted in a meeting between NUM and the CoM on
September 21.
Frans Baleni, NUM’s general secretary, said on Tuesday that the union wouldn’t
negotiate around a universal percentage increase, but put forward minimum wages
based on the profitability of individual companies and operations. The demand of
R18,000 per month would be made for what was in NUM’s view the most profitable
and sustainable operations. The starting point for lesser mines would be either
R16,000 or R12,500.
“This is not a normal set of wage demands,’ said Baleni. “The realities are there is
expectations of nothing below of what was settled at Lonmin.’
NUM’s pronouncement over its wage demands comes as a series of wildcat strikes
have crippled mining production across South Africa in the wake of a 12%-to-22%
settlement on pay increases at platinum miner Lonmin.
Companies hit included AngloGold Ashanti (all SA operations), Anglo American
Platinum (Rustenburg operations), Gold Fields (Beatrix and KDC West), Village Main
Reef (Blyvoor), Atlatsa (Bakoni) as well as Gold One International (Cooke 4/Ezulwini).
Most of these employers have secured interdicts against the strikes and would be
within their rights to start dismissing their workforce. However, only Anglo American
Platinum has so far indicated that it was proceeding with disciplinary action.
Zwelinzima Vavi, Secretary General of trade union federation Cosatu, on Tuesday said
the mining companies, in particular Impala and Lonmin, should take full responsibility
for all the strikes that were spreading in the sectors.
Impala had unilaterally offered increases to some workers, in addition to a settlement
reached with NUM during formal wage negotiations in 2011.
“Impala committed a grave error in offering an 18% increase to one category to the
exclusion of the rest of the workers and, more seriously, outside the collective
bargaining process,’ said Vavi. “Expectations have been raised not by the NUM but by
the employers and the recent mine workers’ strikes are a response to the employers’
miscalculation.
“Lonmin should have known that getting wage negotiations to be facilitated by the
churches and allowing everybody, no matter their legal status, to play a role in the
negotiations will create precedents that they will not be willing to repeat anywhere
else.’
Asked whether he concurred with warnings that extra-ordinary wage increases would
translate into fewer job opportunities, Vavi said it was not unusual for employers to
raise such a threat whenever workers made wage demands.
“That is a standard blackmailing tactic,’ he said, adding that NUM and Cosatu would
not embark on a “populist campaign’ to demand more from mining companies than
what was affordable.
“We are aware of the circumstances,’ he said.
