[miningmx.com] – SOUTH Africa’s three largest platinum companies, Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), Impala Platinum (Implats) and Lonmin confirmed they had signed a new wage deal with the Association of Mineworkers & Construction Union (AMCU), but warned that profits remained constrained.
The terms of the settlement between the producers and AMCU was broadly in line with the in-principle agreement earlier this month except for minor increases in the living out allowance during the first year of the three-year deal.
The main points of the agreement were:
• An annual wage increase of R1,000 per month for employees whose basic wage is less than R12,500 a month for the first two years of the agreements. At Lonmin the same increase will apply in the third year, whereas in the other two companies the increase in the third year will be R950 a month.
• Employees currently earning R12,500 a month or more, or whose basic rate reaches that amount during the course of the agreement, will receive an 8% increase for the first year of the agreement and 7.5% thereafter in respect of Amplats and Implats and 8% increase for the first year and 7.5% for the next two years in respect of Lonmin.
• The living-out allowance will remain at its current level at Impala, at Lonmin the living out allowance will increase in the first year and remain the same for the next two years and at Amplats the living out allowance will increase by 6% in the first year, and remain constant thereafter.
• Fringe benefits and allowances normally based on basic pay will generally, during the course of these agreements, increase by amounts linked to the inflation rate.
• All employees will receive, within one week of their return to work, the back pay due to them from their 2013 increase date until 22 January 2014, the day prior to the start of the strike.
The producers said that while they would work to improve the conditions or workers and communities near the mines, this could not be achieved overnight.
Workers would start returning to work on June 25 which would usher in a period of medical testing and retraining, as well as opening up mining areas. The companies said they would seek to replenish metal pipelines but mining would take weeks to begin.
“It is our sincere hope that our companies, our industry, our employees and all other stakeholders will never again have to endure the pain and suffering of this unprecedented strike period. None of us, nor the country as a whole, can afford a repetition,’ they said in a statement.
“The road ahead remains a challenging one and it will take some time for our operations to resume full production, with the safety and wellness of employees being paramount. This is at a time when the platinum market remains subdued, and operational profitability remains constrained,” they said.
