Mine wage talks enter critical stage - by Brendan Ryan - WAGE talks between the Chamber of Mines and the four main unions representing mineworkers will resume on Monday with the parties due to sign a "house rules" document as discussed at the initial meeting on Thursday. The chamber is also due to present counter offers from the gold producers to the demands tabled by the unions, which range from increases of 60% to 100% on entry-level wage rates. The chamber — with the support of the government — is pushing for an environment of "peace, stability and respect for the law" in which to carry out the negotiations but there has already been a setback in the form of a wildcat strike on Wednesday at the Consolidated Murchison gold and antimony mine in Limpopo. Consolidated Murchison is owned by Village Main Reef, which is one of the gold producers participating in the Chamber talks. The others are AngloGold Ashanti, Evander Gold Mine, Harmony Gold, Rand Uranium, Pan African Resources and Sibanye Gold. The four unions are the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), Solidarity and the United Association of South Africa (Uasa). According to a statement released on Friday by Village Main Reef, the unprotected strike started at the end of the day shift on Wednesday and resulted in a stoppage of all gold and antimony production. It said "management will continue to engage in constructive dialogue with employees, their representatives and other stakeholders with a view to maintaining peace and resolving the strike. Village reserves its right to approach the court for an interdict in respect of this unprotected strike." Police in Limpopo said they were "on alert" after 200 miners on the surface joined a demonstration by 134 workers underground who have refused to come to the surface, Reuters reported on Friday. "The strike has taken place in spite of a statement issued by the Chamber of Mines after Thursday’s initial meeting with the unions that all parties have committed to sign a historic ‘house rules’ document on July 15." The chamber said "considerable progress was made in developing the document governing the manner in which negotiations shall be conducted. The objective is to ensure that negotiations are carried out professionally and in good faith, recognising the interdependence of all parties and that the gold mining industry’s sustainability, its transformation and the welfare of its employees are a shared responsibility." The Village Main Reef annual report last year said Consolidated Murchison employed a workforce of 976 people. The mine is one of the largest antimony producers outside China. The hefty pay demands from Amcu and NUM have come when the gold industry faces a crisis because of the collapse in the gold price. A chamber briefing document said: "The industry cannot … afford any increase in wages and benefits as wages and benefits accounted for between 50% and 55% of operating costs. " In the latest developments, Sibanye Gold has recognised Amcu as the majority union at its Driefontein mine while Impala Platinum has recognised Amcu as the majority union on its operations in South Africa. Implats spokeswoman Alice Lourens said the company had withdrawn recognition from the NUM in January and signed a recognition agreement with Amcu on Wednesday. Platinum miners will negotiate wages company by company this year after attempts to set up a central bargaining forum failed. Published with the kind courtesy of bdlive.co.za
Posted on: Mon, 15 Jul 2013 07:07:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015