[miningmx.com] – IMPALA Platinum (Implats) said it would begin a new
round of engagement with the Interim Workers Committee (IWC) at its Impala
Rustenburg mine following fresh wage demands.
“The IWC is Amcu-aligned. What it has asked for is effectively a double wage increase
in the space of six months,’ said Bob Gilmour, investor relations manager for Implats.
Gilmour’s comments follow a statement this morning by Implats to the JSE, in which it
confirmed a report on Monday that the IWC had demanded a wage increase similar to
one granted to labour at the mine earlier in the year and which was brought forward
to April “as a gesture of goodwill’.
Implats’ Rustenburg mine contributes about half of Implats’ normalised annual
platinum production, equal to some 900,000 oz. A six-week strike there in March and
April cost it some R2.5bn in lost revenue and involved violence in which three people
were killed.
Terence Goodlace, CEO of Implats, said that “should this implementation be effected
as per the demand, this would equate to a double increase within a period of six
months’.
Gilmour said that talks would resume today after the IWC consulted with its members.
It’s unknown how many people the IWC speaks for, as Implats had not yet been able
to conduct an audit of mine representation. “They don’t have representational rights,’
he said of the IWC.
“Our overriding imperative in this process is to ensure peace, order and stability,’
said Goodlace in the JSE statement. “We believe that current tensions are an issue for
the entire industry.
“Profitability margins continue to remain under severe pressure with consequences for
all concerned. We are therefore actively engaging all stakeholders at the highest level
as a sustainable solution can only be delivered through the collaborative efforts of all
parties, at all levels,’ Goodlace said.
The demands come at a time when some 15,000 workers downed tools at Gold Fields
KDC West mine, mirroring an industrial stoppage at KDC East mine last week. In
addition, wage negotiations at Lonmin were conducted against a backdrop of almost
negligable worker turnout at its Marikana mine.
Speaking at Gibs last night, Bobby Godsell, Business Unity SA chairperson, said the
wage negotiation process had to be changed. “We have to make wage negotiation
work. It has to be inclusive. We have to include people in the negotiation process,”
news agency Sapa quoted Godsell to have said. “It has to deliver outcomes that
people find broadly acceptable,” Godsell added.
