Fin24 reports that despite record-high gold prices after about a 40% climb in the year to date, Sibanye-Stillwater has shunned a five-year wage deal at its high-cost SA gold operations.
Sibanye CEO Neal Froneman recently indicated: "We're not looking for a five-year deal. Our gold business has just gone through restructuring. I think we've got to complete that process and see what the actual impact is. And so, we think a one-year deal is probably fine with a view to engaging in a year. And then we can look forward to longer-term deals." In April this year, Harmony Gold and unions penned the first five-year wage deal for the industry, with the multi-year agreement touted to set the tone for talks with other gold miners. Pan African Resources followed suit, announcing its own five-year-deal. The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), the largest in a coalition of unions involved in gold wage talks with Sibanye, said it came into negotiations with a mandate from its members to secure a multi-year agreement. On Tuesday, the union presented the company's latest and final offer to employees. Against a demand for a R1,200 increase for category four to eight workers, the company has offered R900. A demand for a 6% increase for miners, artisans and officials has been met with an offer of 5.5%. The feedback from workers will be shared among the unions at a meeting on Friday. "Even though the trade unions have provided proof of the well-known fact that gold prices have been rising significantly, the employer disregards this completely,” said AMCU’s Krister Janse van Rensburg. Livhuwani Mammburu of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said the employer had been arrogant throughout negotiations.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Lisa Steyn at Fin24 (subscription or trial registration required)
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