[miningmx.com] – SOUTH Africa’s gold industry edged closer to much-feared strike activity after the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and UASA issued a certificate of non-resolution.
This follows several rounds of arbitration at the Council for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).
“Wage talks have deadlocked. A certificate of non-resolution has been issued,’ the NUM spokesperson, Lesiba Seshoka, told Sapa. He said union members would be consulted on the negotiations, and balloted on a strike. “The strike could be on next week. We have not yet served a notice to strike,’ he told the newswire service.
The NUM is demanding R7,000 a month for surface workers and R8,000 for underground workers. Gold producers represented at the Chamber of Mines said attempts were made to address some of the many demands that had been tabled by unions.
“The employers tabled a revised offer of six percent for category four and five employees, and for rock drill operators (RDOs),’ said Charmane Russell on behalf of gold producers.
