Gold One is set to resume production on Wednesday after a labour turf battle hampered operations for nearly a month at its East Rand mine.
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has agreed to ending its closed-shop agreement at the Gold One mine, confirming late on Tuesday that it took the decision to “safeguard jobs” and “save the lives of innocent workers”.
Gold One confirmed to the Business Day earlier on Tuesday that it would be telling all workers to return to work on Wednesday, as production would resume as normal.
The stalemate over union members between NUM and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) resulted in a hostage situation/sit-in last month and a large protest on Monday, during which 11 of the workers were arrested.
Amcu had argued that NUM is no longer the majority union at the mine and it demanded a ballot of members there, which NUM has resisted.
The standoff was reminiscent of the union turf battle that culminated in the Marikana massacre at Lonmin in 2012, when 34 mineworkers were shot by police, 78 people were injured and more than 200 were arrested.
At Gold One’s Modder East shaft last month, some workers claimed that they were staging a sit-in underground, while others said that they were held hostage for three days.
On Monday, tension rose again when between 200 and 300 Amcu supporters blocked the entrance to the mine.
A car belonging to a NUM shop steward was burnt, but no injuries were reported. The shop steward’s car was set alight after he tried to enter the mine.
Gold One head of legal Ziyaad Hassam told the FM on Tuesday that the mine has not yet counted the cost of the labour unrest, but estimates that it has lost R7m in production per day.
The cost of beefing up security at the mine and other “procurement costs” would also be taken into account.
Hassam says that NUM’s closed-shop agreement dates back to 2012 and the labour environment has been fairly stable since then, until the sit-in/hostage situation last month.
Amcu had approached the labour court to force the company to hold a ballot of 1,800 category A and B workers at the mine. The case was expected to be heard on Thursday.
However, NUM announced the voluntary dissolution of its closed-shop agreement with Gold One late on Tuesday.
NUM president Dan Baipile tells the FM the union is taking the “necessary steps” to address the situation, possibly without going to court.
In a statement, NUM said that it would continue to oppose Amcu’s application and has questioned the validity by the latter indicating that NUM was no longer the dominant union at the mine. However, it had voluntarily dissolved the closed-shop agreement after discussion with the company in order to protect lives.
Amcu is likely to call for a ballot of all workers at the mine in coming days to determine which union is entitled to recognition at the mine.
Hassam said the company had negotiated with NUM to “bring about a quicker resolution to the impasse” through a voluntary dissolution to the agreement. He said that the company would write to all workers and unions, informing them that the mine will return to full operation on Wednesday, and that all workers should report for duty.
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