BL Premium reports that Sibanye-Stillwater will be asking the Labour Court to declare a protracted wage strike at its gold mines unprotected after claiming a major victory in a union membership verification process.
The precious metals producer said on Monday that it would approach the court to declare a stoppage by about 14,000 members of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) at its three gold mines unprotected after the independent verification process confirmed that Amcu was in the minority at its gold mines. The union, however, challenged the verification process as "flawed", saying: "Amcu late today (Monday) learned with shock and disappointment that Sibanye has made the highly unethical move to announce the flawed findings of a process, before such findings have been finalised." If the court rules the strike unprotected, Sibanye will extend a wage deal signed with three other unions in November to the striking workers. Amcu said there was a dispute resolution meeting on Tuesday morning and that it would attend the meeting and issue a further statement with greater detail after the outcome had been announced. Success in the Labour Court for Sibanye would mean an end to the strike, leaving the workers out of pocket after forfeiting four-and-a-half months of wages.
- Read the full original of this report by Allan Seccombe at BusinessLive (paywall access only)
- Read Sibanye’s press statement in the above regard at Moneyweb
- Read Amcu’s press statement in reply to Sibanye at Amcu News
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page