SOUTH Africa’s platinum group metal (PGM) miners are bracing for potentially difficult wage negotiations when it meets with unions later this month, said Reuters citing the views of Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) and an analyst.
“A strike is a big risk for PGM producers, especially those who have a majority AMCU membership. That remains a challenge, despite the higher basket price,” said Nedbank equity analyst Arnold Van Graan.
The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) has normally gathers around demands for a minimum R12,500 per month wage. The union, which recently called an end to a five month gold strike, said it would “…Â continue its campaign of social justice and economic emancipation of the working class”.
“We expect another tough round of negotiations,” Amplats spokeswoman Jana Marais told the newswire. “Our employees’ disposable income has been under increasing pressure.”
A five-month strike in 2014 by thousands of AMCU members at the Rustenburg operations of Amplats, Impala and Lonmin forced the companies to restructure and cut jobs. But the strike, which cost the industry billions, failed to push platinum prices higher due to a supply glut that is expected to persist this year.
“Workers cannot be screaming for minimal profits for their pockets (otherwise) they will have no jobs in five years,” Lonmin chief executive Ben Magara told Reuters in London.
