Business Times reports that platinum wage negotiations at Sibanye-Stillwater this year are expected to be especially tough after majority unions at the group’s gold mines unveiled plans for a secondary strike to up the ante in their fight for higher wages.

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the Association of Mineworkers & Construction Union (Amcu) said last week they had given notice for a secondary strike at Sibanye-Stillwater’s platinum operations. The prospect of a secondary strike comes as the impasse between the unions and the company entered its second month, with both hardening their positions. Amcu general secretary Jeff Mphahlele said he expected about 35,000 employees at the Rustenburg and Marikana operations to down tools as part of the secondary strike. “We are taking the secondary strike to every outlet of Sibanye-Stillwater after Easter. If you think of the 35,000 people at the Rustenburg and Marikana operations, the impact will be huge,” he stated. NUM general secretary William Mabapa said the unions were convening shop steward council meetings in the platinum operation branches to gauge the appetite for a secondary strike. “For now, they do not have a problem. It is a matter of waiting for the Easter weekend and after that, we will process everything,” he indicated last week. The unions were also applying to authorities for permits to lead marches to the JSE and the Union Buildings, Mphahlele reported. Richard Cox, executive vice-president at Sibanye’s SA gold operations, said the group had not yet received notice for a secondary strike at its platinum group metals (PGMs) operations and would take legal action in the event it was given. He said wage negotiations at the PGM operations in SA were scheduled to begin any time between June and July.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Dineo Faku at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
• Read too, Sibanye-Stillwater stands firm on wage deal as labour ratchets up the pressure, at Business Report

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