The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) will vacate its offices at Lonmin’s Marikana mine today after losing a court battle to stop the company from terminating its recognition agreement. NUM had until today to recruit more members or have its recognition at Lonmin terminated after being given a three month period to do so. The overturning of the agreement has possibly averted further strife, as the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) has previously warned that disgruntled members could take matters into their own hands. Yesterday Judge Rob la Grange struck NUM’s urgent application to retain its top spot at the platinum producer off the roll with costs, saying it lacked urgency. This paves the way for its rival Amcu to seal a recognition agreement. “The application must ultimately be struck off the roll for lack of urgency, even though it was unlikely to succeed on the merits, if urgency had been established,” Judge La Grange said as he handed down the judgment. NUM sought to use the court battle to buy time to recover lost ground as Amcu’s membership, especially in the platinum belt, has grown exponentially. “I am taking it that if we have lost it this way, it implies we have to leave those offices,” Lesiba Seshoka, the national spokesman of NUM, said on the sidelines of the court hearing yesterday. Following the judgment, Lonmin said it was committed to ensuring that all employee representatives and unions were treated fairly. “Our objective remains to ensure workplace stability and a workable labour relations environment,” company spokeswoman Sue Lindsell-Stewart said. She downplayed the possibility of unrest, saying that operations were normal. Amcu now represents 70 percent of Lonmin’s unskilled workers in categories four to nine, which is the majority of the workforce. NUM represents 20 percent of workers. The bitter rivalry between the two unions was a factor in the killing of almost 50 people in August last year, including 34 who were killed in a police shoot-out at Marikana. NUM will commence with a Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) process tomorrow to contest what it alleges is Amcu’s fraudulent poaching of members at Lonmin. NUM argued that the stop orders and notices of revocation of its membership submitted to Lonmin by Amcu were invalid. “This is not a blow, this is not a train smash; the issue must be extended until the issue is resolved at the CCMA with regards to irregularities. If we go to the CCMA and win we will still be a majority union,” Seshoka said. However, Joseph Mathunjwa, the president of Amcu, said the court case was a delay tactic. He welcomed yesterday’s ruling, saying it came as no surprise. “NUM must know that a court is no place to recruit members or that judges are not recruiters.” He added that this was not the first time that NUM had tried to delay the recognition of Amcu. “We saw NUM’s desperation last year; six days before Christmas they ran to court to get Impala to reverse its decision to derecognise it. The matter was struck off. “For Amcu the ruling means that the employer [Lonmin] can no longer delay concluding a recognition agreement,” he said. According to a forensic accountancy firm tasked by NUM to verify membership, its fortunes turned for the worst towards the end of last year. Between September and October, Amcu’s membership shot up to almost 14 000, while NUM’s dropped to 6 500. Amcu has been recognised as the majority union at Sibanye Gold’s Driefontein mine and Impala Platinum’s operations. – Dineo Faku
Posted on: Wed, 17 Jul 2013 10:42:42 +0000
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