Business Report writes that Sibanye’s move on Monday to begin talks with unions on the future of its loss-making Cooke 4 Operations puts about 2,500 jobs on the line if the gold producer decides to close operations.
There are 1,700 permanent employees and 800 contractors at the affected operations (Cooke 4 underground mine and Ezulwini gold and uranium processing plant). Sibanye-led consultations in September 2014 resulted in the company and unions deciding to implement certain measures to return the operation to profitability. However, the interventions, and even the firmer gold price this year, have not helped turn around the Cooke 4 Operations. The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said it was shocked with the retrenchment notice and would be calling for government intervention. Gideon du Plessis, the general secretary at trade union Solidarity, said there was hope the consultation process would bring alternatives to job cuts.
- Read this report by Dineo Faku in full at Business Report
- Read too, Sibanye Gold to cut jobs at Cooke 4 mine, at BDLive
- And also, Sibanye mine misses targets, risking 2,500 SA jobs, at Moneyweb
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page