Today's Labour News

Business Times reports that the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) are at odds over retrenchments in the mining industry.

Several mining houses have proposed restructuring shafts in response to the impact of power outages, rail and port weaknesses, and lower metal prices, all of which are compounding economic woes and hurting bottom lines. The NUM wants the government to revoke the licences of mining companies that rush to retrench workers when they are in difficulty, but Amcu disagrees. NUM spokesperson Lupert Chilwane said: “The department of mineral resources & energy [DMRE] must revoke mining licences. It must make the process of retrenching workers a difficult and expensive exercise. They are custodians of South Africa’s mineral wealth; why are they so quiet, why are they not doing something to avert or at least minimise the retrenchments? They should step in as they are the regulator of the industry.” However, Amcu general secretary Jeff Mphahlele said the NUM should focus on serving its members instead of taking short cuts. “NUM is not fighting for its members. They want an easy way out. We were fighting Sibanye in court, they did not want to come to the party because we had to pay lawyers. Amcu does not support retrenchments. [But] even if the DMRE intervenes, they will not call out the mine bosses,” Mphahlele said. Gideon du Plessis, general secretary of Solidarity, pointed out that since the planned retrenchments would compound unemployment, more people would join illegal mining activities to look after their families since there were limited options for out-of-work miners.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Dineo Faku at Business Times (subscriber access only)

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