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City Press reports that the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) has accused Sibanye-Stillwater of working behind the scenes to ensure its demise as the biggest union in the platinum sector.
According to Amcu president Joseph Mathunjwa, the company was fuelling tension and encouraging union members to join other labour groups. He claimed as follows: “The company is telling our members to join Solidarity, NUM [National Union of Mineworkers] or Uasa and when we [Amcu] go on strike, the company will pay them for staying at home and in return Amcu will not have the numbers to push the strike. They gave them an ultimatum that, if they want to be paid while not working, they would have to join the other unions. Neal Froneman [Sibanye’s CEO] wants to do the same thing he did in the gold sector by bringing the other unions to the table via the back door. The company is already recognising the other unions unduly and has meetings with them to strategise about what must happen if we go on strike.” Sibanye’s James Wellsted dismissed Amcu’s claims. Meanwhile, Amcu has declared a dispute with the CCMA against Sibanye and Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) and is set to do the same with Impala Platinum after wage talks with all three companies deadlocked. Amcu has demanded a R1,500 wage hike for employees for each year of the envisaged three-year wage deal. Sibanye has offered R400, R600 and R800 for each of the three years at its Marikana operations and R700, R750 and R800 at its Rustenburg operations. Amplats has offered R1,000, R850 and R800, while Impala has offered R1,050 for each of the three years.
- Read the full original of the above report by Lesetja Malope at City Press
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