BusinessLive reports that precious metals producer Sibanye-Stillwater is closely watching the support that the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) attracts ahead of a possible sympathy strike in its platinum division.
Amid reports of violence in the protracted gold wage strike at Sibanye’s three gold mines called by Amcu on 21 November 2018, the company is gearing up for a secondary or sympathy strike at its platinum mines around Rustenburg. “We are getting a sense that Amcu might not get the support it wants for a strike in the platinum mine, but as we’ve seen in the gold strike it only takes a few hostile people to intimidate others to stay away from work,” said Sibanye’s James Wellsted. A measure of the extent of Amcu’s support for a secondary strike will be the union’s march to the Minerals Council SA (previously called the Chamber of Mines) on Tuesday to highlight its unhappiness over miners’ wages. Sibanye is considering its legal options to stop a secondary strike at its platinum division, but has yet to apply for an interdict to prevent it. Little more than half the workforce are continuing to work at the gold mines. Sibanye and Amcu are locked in a legal tussle over the verification of membership numbers there, which could determine whether a wage settlement with three other unions can be extended to the whole gold workforce.
- Read Allan Seccombe’s report on this story in full at BusinessLive
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page