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City Press reports on its forthright interview with Sibanye-Stillwater chief executive Neal Froneman a week after the company finally settled with the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) following a wage strike of nearly five months at the company’s gold operations.
Froneman said the strike had been financially damaging even though the company eventually came out the winner. But the costs, he indicated, might take up to two years to recover. Froneman has earned a reputation for always getting the upper hand when talks with striking unions deadlock and seemingly, after having gone head-to-head with Amcu, he has maintained that record of breaking unions. Asked if he had ever lost at the negotiating table against a union, Froneman confirmed he had yet to. “It is not my intention to break unions and no, I don’t think I have [lost to a union],” he indicated. Part of the win for the company, Froneman noted, was the agreement on the peace pact which the union agreed to sign within 30 days of the strike. Leading up to the platinum wage negotiations, Froneman pointed out that the sector was already under strain. He stated that the union had to realise this and he would try to explain the financial situation to union leaders. He added: “I feel we have made our point and any union will think twice about calling a strike with Sibanye because we have shown that we will stick to our guns when we feel something is right.”
- Read the full original of Lesetja Malope’s interesting report on the interview with Froneman at City Press
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page