IOL Business reports that a threatened strike at DRDGold’s Ergo Mining operations on the East Rand has been suspended, but the fight over wages and profit sharing for staff is not over.

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) pulled their 48-hour strike notice just hours before the action was set to start. As a result, DRDGold’s operation to reclaim gold from old mine dumps continues. The dispute comes after months of negotiations that began in July. Of the 25 issues on the table, 23 have been resolved, leaving only wages and profit-sharing to be agreed upon.

The unions are pushing for a 12% pay increase plus additional profit-related benefits, far above recent sector agreements. DRDGold has offered guaranteed annual increases of between 6% and 7.5% over the next five years, continued participation in its profit‑sharing scheme, a new performance-based incentive, and improved housing and living allowances. According to DRDGold, it “remains open to further engagement and encourages a resolution that avoids unnecessary financial harm to employees and disruption to operations”. The United Association of SA (Uasa) signed the agreement earlier this month, leaving only the NUM and Amcu at odds with the company.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Nicola Mawson at IOL Business

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