Sibanye-Stillwater has struck a wage deal with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the United Association of SA (Uasa) but was snubbed by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), which declared a dispute.
Sibanye was the only platinum group metal (PGM) group still to sign a wage deal after Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), Impala Platinum (Implats) and Northam concluded deals in recent months.
Wage talks between Sibanye and unions started in early July reached conclusions with two unions at its SA PGM operations, the company said on Friday.
The parties agreed on five-year wage deals consisting of fixed average yearly wage rises of 6% and more for the first three years, followed by inflation-linked agreements in years four and five plus notable increases in benefits, mirroring the extended wage deals other PGM miners agreed to this year.
“The current offer will result in further meaningful gains for employees,” the company said.
It highlighted that entry-level employees on average achieved a basic wage of more than R20,000 a month and a total cost to the company of more than R34,000 a month by year five. Sibanye, which is listed on the JSE and in New York, said basic wages for entry-level employees rose on average more than 90% since 2013, compared with a compound rise in the consumer price index of about 45% over the period.
“We remain committed to achieving a fair and sustainable agreement and avoiding prolonged negotiations as agreed upfront with the unions,” said Sibanye’s chief regional officer for Southern Africa, Richard Stewart.
However, talks may be far from over, given that the dispute declared by Amcu has been referred to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration for conciliation.
It remains unclear what lies at the heart of the union’s dispute, because Amcu was not available for comment at the time of publication.
Labour strife right now could throw a spanner in the works of a struggling economy that is dogged by load-shedding and is still trying to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, the July 2021 unrest and the recent flooding that hit three provinces.
Stewart said the dispute raised by Amcu was “concerning” as there was “overwhelming support” for the offer by employees and union representatives at its operations.
“Amcu national leadership has again chosen to ignore their members,” said Stewart.
However, other mining houses have managed to strike satisfactory deals with unions in recent talks.
In May, Amplats announced it had entered into a five-year wage agreement with Amcu, NUM and Uasa for above-inflation increases for employees.
A month later, Implats signed a five-year pay deal with Amcu for workers to get inflation-beating increases over the multiterm agreement. Northam signed a five-year deal at its Zondereinde mine a year ago.
Sibanye’s share price was up 3.24% to R42.01 on Friday, having dropped more than 14% since the year began.
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