Implats postpones NUM, Amcu count as tensions rise

[miningmx.com] – IMPALA Platinum (Implats) said the slaying of 34
miners at Lonmin’s Marikana mine had put a temporary halt to plans to implement a
“collective agreement’ signed between the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and
the Associated Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu). The agreement could
lead to joint representation at Implats’ 900,000 ounce/year Rustenburg mine.

Johan Theron, Implats’ Human Resources Manager, said the rival unions had agreed
to the appointment of the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration
(CCMA), which would oversee an independent verification process to probe “mass
resignations’ from the NUM in favour of Amcu membership.

Amcu president Joseph Mathunjwa said on June 6, the union had 15,000 members
at Rustenburg, of which 11,000 had lodged stop orders with the union. Overall, it
had 20,000 members at Implats and Lonmin mines, and was turning its attention to
canvassing support at mines owned by Anglo American Platinum.

If the outcome shows the resignations from NUM were done freely and without
intimidation, a process starts whereby NUM attempts to win back members, failing
which Amcu will be the new majority union at the mine. However, Theron said
Implats would use this as an opportunity to install a new dispensation at
Rustenburg, where rock drill operators embarked on a six-week strike in March
which cost the lives of three people, and some 120,000 oz in platinum production,
equal to R2.5bn in revenue.

“We will seek to nullify the agreement with NUM and organise a new dispensation
which would be multi-union,’ Theron said. Unfortunately, the tragegy at Lonmin’s
Marikana mine has potentially made for an unstable atmosphere at Rustenberg. “We
were supposed to start the CCMA’s process on Monday [August 20], but it will be
delayed a week or two,’ said Theron.

“Now is not the right time to be speaking to 20,000 miners at Rustenburg given
what’s happened. It’s a bit of a tinder box and I don’t think the commission’s
members would feel quite safe at this current time,’ he said.

Since an illegal strike among rock drill operators began at Lonmin’s Marikana mine,
a total of 44 people had been killed at the operation. This included 10 people in the
week before, of which two victims were police officers.

Delaying efforts to establish the size of Amcu’s representation at Rustenburg mirrors
Lonmin’s own decision not to issue striking RDOs an ultimatum to return to work or
face dismissal. “A deadline or ultimatum is hot helping anyone,’ Mark Munroe, the
Executive Vice President for Mining at Lonmin told Talk Radio 702, a comment
reported by Bloomberg News.

Earlier this year, former Implats CEO, David Brown, said the company was seeking
to move away from the “winner takes all’ structure at its mines in which
representative or negotiating rights are only awarded to the union with a 50%
majority among the workforce. This raised the stakes of control too high and was
partly behind the fierce rivalry between the two unions.

However, Theron said it was difficult to get NUM and Amcu to meet each other. “This
has been really under-reported in the media. The two unions talk about having no
problems negotiating with one another, but on the mine, it’s impossible to get them
in the same room,’ said Theron.