BusinessLive reports that a court ruling on Friday was the latest of a series of legal setbacks for the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) in its protracted wage strike at Sibanye-Stillwater’s gold mines.  

The union’s members are now in the fifth month of a strike which commenced on 21 November 2018 to back a demand for a R1,000 monthly salary increase.  The Labour Court ruling by Judge Edwin Tlhotlhalemaje on Friday disallowed an Amcu appeal against a ruling relating to a union membership verification process.  This has cleared another hurdle for Sibanye to extend its wage agreement with three other unions to all its gold employees pending a union membership verification process involving the CCMA.  Sibanye has steadfastly argued that the National Union of Mineworkers, Solidarity and Uasa represent the majority of workers at its gold mines and it should thus be able to extend the wage agreement with them to Amcu’s members.  While Amcu can still obstruct the verification process, Sibanye could in the coming weeks complete the process and approach the court with the results to secure an end to the strike.  If the verification process proves that the three unions are indeed in the majority as per the timelines set out in various judgments, it would mean the Amcu strike would no longer be protected and Amcu’s members would have incurred severe financial hardship for nothing.

• Read the full original of Allan Seccombe’s report on the court ruling at BusinessLive

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