Mine unions draft picketing rules

A coalition of mining unions is drafting picketing rules after wage talks with Sibanye Still water deadlocked when workers rejected a wage hike deal from the gold miner. The unions include the National Union of Mineworkers, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, Solidarity and the United Association of SA.

A coalition of mining unions is drafting picketing rules after wage talks with Sibanye-Stillwater deadlocked when workers rejected a wage hike deal from the gold miner this week.

The unions include the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), Solidarity and the United Association of SA (Uasa).

The revised proposal by Sibanye-Stillwater made to unions on November 18, which would have increased the employer’s wage bill at its gold operations by R1.4bn in 2023, would have seen lowest-paid employees getting increases of R570, R640 and R670 over three years.

In terms of the proposal, miners, artisans and officials would receive increases of 4.5%, 4.9% and 4.9% during the threeyear term, below the inflation rate of 5% recorded in October.

But, on Tuesday, workers rejected the proposed deal and stuck to their demand for a wage hike of R1,000 each year for three years.

“We are busy with picketing rules, we aim to finalise them by December 13. A strike certificate will be requested if the matter is unresolved. We keep on talking to each other, but we are so far apart,” Solidarity general secretary Gideon du Plessis said.

Du Plessis said it was up to the company to table an acceptable offer. “Senior management got 6% increases and huge bonuses earlier this year; now they are offering lower-level staff a lot less.”

After the deal was rejected, the company reverted to the offer tabled on October 19, proposing increases of R520, R610 and R640 over three years. Miners, artisans and officials would receive an increase of 4.1% in year one, 4.7% in year two and 4.7% in year three, according to the deal.

“Because the parties could not reach an agreement, a certificate of non-resolution, which will allow parties to consult their constituents to receive a mandate on the way forward, has been requested by organised labour,” Sibanye-Stillwater said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration is required to establish picketing rules before the certificate of non-resolution may be issued. The conciliation process has been extended by another two weeks to allow for the finalisation of picketing rules. The parties will reconvene on December 13 for a final engagement session when a certificate of non-resolution will be issued.”

Richard Cox, Sibanye-Stillwater executive vice-president for SA gold operations, said the company was disappointed that while it had increased its offer five times, “the unions have not moved significantly from their initial demands”.

Cox said the demands are “not sustainable and we will not be intimidated into acceding to above-inflation demands that will compromise the sustainability of our gold operations and therefore all our stakeholders”.

“We do, however, remain hopeful that a responsible resolution may still be achieved that is in the interests of sustainability for all stakeholders. We appeal to all union leaders to act responsibly and to carefully consider our collective future and the many stakeholders that depend on us.”