Business Times reports that management and striking unions at Sibanye-Stillwater’s gold operations are as far apart as ever despite the high-profile intervention last week of mineral resources & energy minister Gwede Mantashe.
He facilitated meetings between Sibanye's management and the leadership of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the Association of Mineworkers & Construction Union (Amcu) on Monday and Thursday. These were the first face-to-face talks since workers downed tools two months ago. Speaking on the sidelines of the meeting on Thursday, Mantashe said his role had been limited: “Our role … is to nudge parties to talk to one another. We are not a negotiator for either the union or the company. We are saying to them, 'You cannot have a strike for two months and you do not talk to each other and you write letters to each other.' Their meeting today and on Monday is a massive move.” During the meeting on Thursday, which went on into the night, the unions offered to reduce their wage hike demand for so-called ‘miners, artisans and officials’ from 6% to 5.8%. Sibanye is offering 5%. The unions said they were prepared to cut their demand for a R100 monthly “living out” allowance for entry level mineworkers by half, but would not lower their demand for a R1,000 a month salary increase. This would add up to a total monthly increase of R1,050. COO of Sibanye’s gold operations Richard Stewart said Sibanye was sticking to its R850 final offer (R50 living-out allowance and an R800 salary hike). NUM general secretary William Mabapa said there was no end in sight to the strike even after the meetings facilitated by Mantashe. Amcu general secretary Jeff Mphahlele said that in light of the stalemate, a secondary strike at Sibanye’s platinum mines in solidarity with colleagues in the gold mines was increasingly likely.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Dineo Faku at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
- Read too, NUM, Amcu still battling for higher wages, at City Press (subscriber access only)
- And also, The trouble with Froneman’s R300 million pay is that the context – both historical and current – matters, at City Press (subscriber access only)
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