Trade union Solidarity has announced that it will not sign a salary agreement that Kumba Iron Ore wants to impose on its members.

This followed after Kumba, as Anglo American's iron ore producer, reached an agreement “on the sly” with the other mining unions involved after the declaration of a dispute by Solidarity. Kumba apparently wants to make this agreement automatically applicable to Solidarity's members. “Our refusal to sign is a matter of principle. Kumba does not negotiate in good faith and forces an unfavourable agreement on our members. The company introduces unfair practices that result in certain categories of workers having to subsidise the increases of other workers,” said Solidarity General Secretary Gideon du Plessis. He added: “In terms of the new agreement, skilled workers will receive a lower percentage increase than predominantly semi-skilled workers. This practice stems from the previous three-year wage agreement when the same unfair principle was applied by Kumba. The new agreement offers workers mostly at higher job levels increases of 6.5%, 5.5% and 5% over the next three years. Workers at lower job levels will receive increases of between 8% and 7.5% for year one, and increases of 6% and 5.5% for the two years thereafter.” Du Plessis also argued that, as with the previous agreement, Kumba had once again used contradictory wording in a clause for the reopening of negotiations should inflation rise above a certain percentage.

• Read Solidarity’s press statement in the above regard at Solidarity News
• Lees ook, Solidariteit weier ondertekening van Kumba-ooreenkoms, by Maroela Media

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