[miningmx.com] – LONMIN gave hope for a speedy end to a wildcat strike that saw production halted at its Marikana mine yesterday saying the action was ad hoc and unsupported by any of the major unions.
The platinum miner, which earlier this week produced a strong recovery in its interim production numbers, said it had met with the Associated Mineworkers & Construction Union (Amcu), the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and UASA.
“The leadership of each union has assured Lonmin that they did not call for the work stoppage and therefore do not support it,” the company said in a statement.
It has been reported that workers declined to go underground at Marikana owing to the death of an Amcu member near the mine earlier this month. According to reports, some workers were calling for the closure of NUM’s regional office.
Unfortunately, the strike entered its second day. According to a report by Reuters, in which it cited Gideon du Plessis, deputy general-secretary of Solidarity, nobody reported for the day shift this morning.
Lonmin, said, however, it was hopeful.
“We believe that through respectful dialogue between unions and management we will be able to resolve the issues that have been raised and maintain the excellent momentum that together we have achieved in the last six months,’ said Lonmin’s executive vice president of mining, Mark Munroe.
Nonetheless, the sudden return to strike action by employees, so close to the start of annual wage negotiations, and set against the background of Anglo American Platinum’s (Amplats’) revised restructuring plans – which are staunchly opposed by unions – is a worrisome development.
“All this is perhaps a little bit ‘old new’ for the market in the sense that it could be said it is partly priced in,” said Peter Attard Montalto, a strategist for Nomura International.
“However, we think the market underestimates the structural changes, union dynamic and semi-permanent state of output losses and so ongoing economic impact – as well as the tail risk of this boiling over being underestimated,” he said.
Analysts said it was likely there would be further strike action throughout the platinum, and possibly, the gold sector especially as little had changed between now and mid-2012 when the South African mining sector was wracked by strikes.
Inconsistent wage structures, relatively poor living conditions and the inability of miners to structure productivity improvements in return for higher wages were still a feature of labour relations, analysts said.
“The root cause of the strikes last year is still present especially as central bargaining is not yet in place,” an analyst said. Amcu, now the dominant union in South Africa’s platinum industry, leaving the NUM in its wake, has declined to join a central bargaining forum.
Efforts to draw up recognition agreements between it and companies such as Lonmin and Impala Platinum have so far failed with the matter referred to arbitration.
“Overall the pattern of violence, illegal strikes, output loss, workers being given deals to return to work and getting tired without pay will likely continue in the coming months,” said Attard Montalto.
