Mining Weekly reports that on Tuesday representatives of the Mandela Mining Precinct (MMP) and five labour unions signed an agreement on the terms of reference for the parties to collaborate on modernising the SA mining industry.

The agreement was signed by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, the National Union of Mineworkers, Solidarity, the National Union of Metalworkers of SA and Uasa. The MMP – Organised Labour Consultative (OLC) forum was formed to facilitate stakeholder participation in the research and development planning required for a modernised mining industry at a strategic and policy level. The Minerals Council SA (previously called the Chamber of Mines) said it regarded organised labour’s participation and input as critical to the success of future mining modernisation work. “It is critical to have unions meaningfully involved in the modernisation journey and it is vital that unions recognise that modernisation of mining is an imperative to extend the lives of mines, save current jobs in mining and create new opportunities in South Africa,” said Minerals Council president Nolitha Fakude. Solidarity general secretary Gideon du Plessis said progress, as well as the sustainability of the mining sector, was of the utmost importance, not only for the SA economy and job creation, but also for the creation of job security within the sector for those already employed in the sector. “For Solidarity, the latter is of particular importance as Solidarity has quite a number of members in the mining sector and is committed to working on solutions to ensure the survival of this sector,” he pointed out.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Mining Weekly
• Read too, Unions will play a vital role in modernising the mining sector, at BusinessLive
• En ook, Solidariteit wil myne moderniseer, by Maroela Media

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page