BL Premium reports that unions and Sibanye-Stillwater are set to meet on Thursday in a bid to end a strike at the company’s gold mining operations that as of Tuesday was in its 56th day.
Workers affiliated to the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) downed tools on 9 March after the company rejected their demands for a R1,000 increase in monthly pay, a R100 increase in the living-out allowance, and a 6% increase for miners, artisans and officials. The demand for an increase of R1,000 a month amounts to a 9.8% rise in year one, 8.8% in year two and 8.2% in year three for entry-level workers, including surface and underground miners. The two unions, which jointly represent about 25,000 of the 31,000 workers at Sibanye’s gold operations, have rejected the company’s revised offer of an R800 wage increase, a R50 increase in the living out allowance and a 5% increase for miners, artisans and officials. In rejecting the company's revised wage offer, the strikers said it was “disingenuous” of Sibanye CEO Neal Froneman to tell striking workers that the company could not meet their wage demands, while he had earned R300m in 2021 due to the global commodity price boom. “The strike continues. There is a meeting on Thursday for further engagement between parties,” NUM general secretary William Mabapa indicated.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
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