BL Premium writes that the scene for tough wage talks in the platinum sector has been set now that the dominant Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) has demanded a minimum wage of R17,000, just as the troubled industry begins to find its feet again.
Along with other provisions for housing, transport, provident funds, medical aids and more, the total cost to company demand per employee would hit R30,000. Platinum group metals (PGM) producers have been struggling to eke out a profit for years, but an unexpected surge in the palladium price have given them a leg-up this year, while the price of rhodium has risen by 300% since 2016. So, the resurgent PGM prices will make it tougher for producers to play hardball. Unlike the gold sector, wage negotiations for platinum are not centralised and take place at a company level. Most producers have had little to say ahead of wage talks, which will probably begin in earnest next month. But Sibanye-Stillwater, the world’s largest platinum producer, has been quick to say the demand was "impractical and unaffordable". There is also a concern that hardened attitudes between Amcu leader Joseph Mathunjwa and Sibanye-Stillwater CEO Neal Froneman during Amcu’s long strike at the company’s gold operations could colour negotiations. Nedbank analysts Leon Esterhuizen and Arnold van Graan commented thus: "It is most certainly not in labour’s best interest to undermine the current improvement in profitability … We don’t see a settlement above 10% and we see strike potential as very low."
- Read more of the original report by Lisa Steyn in the above regard at SA Labour News
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