BL Premium reports that Pan African Resources has concluded a milestone five-year wage agreement for wage increases and other conditions of service with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) at its Barberton Mines.
The NUM is the representative union for Category 4 to 8 bargaining unit employees at the Barberton operations. The agreement for the period 1 June 2024 to end-June 2029 amounts to an average annual increase of about 5.3% per annum over the five-year period, Pan African indicated in a statement on Tuesday. The agreement provides for an increase of 5.0% or CPI, whichever is higher, capped at 6%. But, it affords the parties a one-off option to renegotiate these increases, in the event of CPI being lower than 4% or higher than 7.5%. The current five-year wage agreement with UASA, the other representative union at Barberton Mines, which was entered into in 2021, is valid for another two years, until 30 June 2026. “The maturation of Barberton’s ESOP (employee share ownership plan) has also realised tangible benefits to all its participants,” said Pan African CEO Cobus Loots. The ESOP was destined to mature on 30 June after a 10-year term, but an early settlement of the scheme – 31 March 2024 – was negotiated with employees and unions. Qualifying employees received dividends of more than R40m during the scheme’s tenure, with the final maturity benefits paid to employees in May. More than 2,200 employees qualified to receive final maturity payments, with payments dependent on the number of completed years of service.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Jacqueline Mackenzie at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
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