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Business Times writes that the wage deal struck last week by Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) with unions will place the spotlight on peer Sibanye-Stillwater, where a strike at its gold operations shows little sign of being resolved.
Amplats signed a five-year wage agreement with the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and Uasa after five meetings. It is to be implemented from 1 July. According to Makhosi Nyamela, analyst at FNB Wealth and Investments, the agreement leaves Sibanye in the spotlight as the biggest employer in the mining sector and indeed the PGM sector. Sibanye operates mainly the labour intensive former Amplats mines at Rustenburg and the Marikana mines from Lonmin. Nyamela commented: “If you look at the fact they still have the outstanding issue on the gold mines, it means that when they go into the negotiations, it will be that much harder for them. The fact that peers like Amplats have settled puts Sibanye on the back foot just like in the gold sector where Goldfields and Harmony settled first.” He pointed out that in addition to Amplats, Northam signed a five year wage agreement at its Zondereinde mine last year. Impala Platinum has yet to sign a wage deal with employees. Nyamela went on to comment: “Even if there was a strike, Sibanye was going to be the company which will be the most affected because it is the most labour intensive. I do not believe Sibanye will allow the same thing that has happened in gold to happen in platinum. I believe they will do whatever they can to resolve the platinum negotiations quickly. I say this because that is where their free cash flow comes mainly from the platinum operations. The gold operations are barely breaking even.”
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Dineo Faku at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
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