Business Report writes that the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) has warned that the gold mining industry could be brought to its knees if a solution is not reached during the upcoming wage negotiations.  

The union this week extended its demand for a R12,500 monthly minimum wage to gold producers, including Harmony Gold, Sibanye-Stillwater and AngloGold Ashanti (AGA), charging that this was a living wage.  The union is also seeking increases in various benefits, including severance pay, transport costs, longer maternity leave and a five-day work week instead of the shift system.  Amcu embarked on a five-month strike in the platinum belt in 2012 in support of its demand for a minimum wage of R12,500 in that sector.  AGA spokesperson Chris Nthite commented:  “The negotiations will get under way.  We will respond in due course with our own offer.  There will be intense negotiations.”  The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the biggest union in the sector, is reportedly demanding a two-year agreement, with entry-level underground pay of R10,500 a month.  Memory Johnstone, speaking on behalf of the Minerals Council SA (formerly known as the Chamber of Mines), said gold producers had received the demands of all the unions participating in the centralised collective bargaining forum.

• Read more of this report by Luyolo Mkentane at SA Labour News

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