Fin24 reports that the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has put forward a 15% wage demand for its workers in the gold mining sector covering a three-year bargaining period from 2021 to 2023.
According to the union, it will be for the first time in the history of wage bargaining in the gold sector that negotiations will be conducted with individual companies, outside of the traditional centralised collective process. This year Harmony Gold and Sibanye Stillwater pulled out of the Central Bargaining Forum for the 2021 negotiations. "We don't support decentralisation as it will disadvantage workers because wage offers and conditions of employment will be different from one company to another," the union said. NUM acting general secretary, William Mabapa, remarked on Thursday that the 15% wage increase, with a minimum pay of R15,000, was "fairly reasonable and could be easily met by the employers". Other demands include that Employee Share Ownership Plan Scheme dividends be paid annually; paid annual leave be increased from 30 to 35 days; paid maternity leave of six months; minimum stand-by allowance of R5,000 per month; funeral benefits increased from R40,000 to R60,000; a skills-retention incentive of R4,600; long-service awards to be paid in an interval of five years at a minimum of R10,000; and ten days of Covid-19 leave.
- Read the original of the report in the above regard by Sibongile Khumalo at Fin24
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