BusinessLive reports that in its ongoing war with Sibanye-Stillwater, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) has lost another legal battle, this time an attempt to stop retrenchments at the gold mines where the union’s members are engaged in a protracted strike.  

In the latest setback for Amcu in the wage strike which commenced on 21 November, the union’s efforts to stop a retrenchment process at two of the three gold mines where about 14,000 of its members have downed tools were rejected by labour court judge Andre van Niekerk on Monday.  Sibanye issued a retrenchment notice in February, notifying the four unions at its Beatrix and Driefontein mines of the need to retrench up to 5,873 people after those mines ran up enormous cumulative losses.  Amcu then approached the labour court to halt the consultation and retrenchment process, arguing that the purpose of the retrenchments was to break the strike and reduce Amcu’s presence in the workplace.  “No proper factual foundation has been laid to sustain the conclusion, even on a prima facie basis, that the proposed retrenchment is a reprisal for the strike,” the judge said.  Separately on Friday, there was a scathing judgment from labour court judge Connie Prinsloo in her decision that a secondary strike by Amcu in gold, platinum and other mines would be unprotected.  Amcu said it would appeal against the secondary strike judgment, which in its view violated its constitutional rights.  

• Read the full original of Allan Seccombe’s report on this story at BusinessLive
• Read too, Labour Court dismisses Amcu interdict against Sibanye restructuring, at Mining Weekly

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