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BL Premium reports that a coalition of mining unions is drafting picketing rules after wage talks with Sibanye-Stillwater deadlocked when workers this week rejected a wage hike deal from the gold producer.
The coalition comprises the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), Solidarity and Uasa. The revised proposal by Sibanye-Stillwater made to unions on 18 November would have seen the lowest-paid ‘category 4 to 8’ employees at Sibanye’s gold operations getting increases of R570, R640 and R670 over three years. So-called miners, artisans and officials would have received increases of 4.5%, 4.9% and 4.9% during the three-year term. However, on Tuesday workers rejected the proposed deal and stuck to their demand for a wage hike of R1,000 each year for three years. “We are busy with picketing rules, we aim to finalise them by December 13. A strike certificate will be requested if the matter is unresolved. We keep on talking to each other, but we are so far apart,” Solidarity general secretary Gideon du Plessis indicated on Thursday. He said it was up to the company to table an acceptable offer. “Senior management got 6% increases and huge bonuses earlier this year; now they are offering lower-level staff a lot less,” Du Plessis claimed. After the deal was rejected by workers on Tuesday, the company reverted to the offer offered to unions on 19 October. If a certificate of non-resolution is issued, unions will have to provide 48 hours’ notice before embarking on a strike.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
- Read too, Sibanye-Stillwater faces prospect of crippling strike at gold mines after unions reject wage offer, at Miningmx
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page