BL Premium reports that Solidarity, which has about 700 members at Sibanye-Stillwater’s gold operations, has accepted the company’s revised wage offer.
The offer will see so-called ‘artisans, miners and officials’ get wage increases of 5% a year over the course of a three-year agreement. The offer makes provision for monthly increases of R800 (including an additional R100 housing allowance) for so-called Category 4 to 8 employees for the next three years. “We are no longer in dispute with the company. We informed the company in writing on Tuesday,” said Riaan Visser, Solidarity’s deputy general secretary for mining. Solidarity was part of a coalition of mining unions, including the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and Uasa, that is demanding an increase of R1,000 a month or 6%. Last week, after rejecting the latest revised wage offer, the unions indicated that they were getting ready to embark on a “massive strike of more than 30,000 workers” at Sibanye’s gold operations. Balloting of the unions’ membership on Tuesday was overseen by officials of the CCMA. Visser said Solidarity members did not take part in the balloting process. “On Monday we informed the other unions that we won’t participate in the balloting for a strike because we undertook a mandate-seeking process on February 21 and February 22. They indicated that they want to accept the offer and don’t want to participate in balloting for a strike,” he indicated. The vote counting was under way on Wednesday, with results expected soon. Sibanye-Stillwater spokesperson James Wellsted said the company would comment only after it got a formal notice of intent from all the unions in the coalition.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
Read Solidarity’s press statement on this matter at Solidarity News
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page