In a final attempt to try breaking a wage deadlock, the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) will on Monday facilitate a meeting between Sibanye-Stillwater management and a coalition of mining unions that have voted to strike for higher wages at the company’s gold operations.
National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) acting general secretary William Mabapa told Business Day that the CCCMA’s intervention is aimed at bringing the parties together once more to reach an amicable agreement before downing tools.
The intervention is a final attempt by the CCMA to see if the parties can reach an agreement before going on a strike, Mabapa said.
“The company told us that it has been scheduled for Monday,” he said.
Mabapa said while the coalition of mining unions including NUM, Uasa and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) will attend the meeting, they remain resolute about downing tools if no favourable agreement is reached.
“If there is no better offer on the table to try to resolve the wage impasse by Monday, then we will proceed to serve the company with a 48-hour strike notice on the same day so that our industrial action can start by Thursday,” said Mabapa.
The meeting on Monday comes after the CCMA presided over the balloting process that saw workers belonging to NUM and Uasa voting for a strike last Tuesday. Amcu members also voted for a strike but its membership was not balloted as the union’s constitution calls for voting by a show of hands.
Solidarity accepted
Sibanye’s gold operations — including Kloof, Driefontein, Beatrix and Cook, as well as support service operations — which account for 6% of the company’s profit, employ about 31,000 workers. Of that workforce only 8,224 members belonging to NUM and Uasa participated in the balloting exercise. A total of 62% (5,084) elected to strike. There were 58 spoilt ballots.
Solidarity has accepted the company’s revised wage offer of a R700 increase and a R100 increase in the living out allowance annually for three years, for underground and surface workers. Artisans, miners and officials will get increases of 5% a year over the course of the multiyear agreement.
Solidarity has said they are no longer in dispute with Sibanye and will not take part in the strike. But Amcu, NUM, and Uasa remain steadfast in their demand for an increase of R1,000 a month or 6% above the 4.9% inflation rate the Reserve Bank has forecast for 2022.
Sibanye-Stillwater spokespersons James Wellsted and Memory Johnstone told Business Day that the company has made it “very clear” to unions that the R700 wage offer and R100 increase in the living out allowance is a final offer.
“We made it clear that we are not going to increase the offer. R800 is above CPI [consumer price inflation]. It takes into account the sustainability [of our operations] and won’t result in early job losses,” Wellsted said.
Negative consequences
Sibanye will not be the only stakeholder that could suffer harm in the event of industrial action as a strike could also hurt workers where it matters the most — in their pockets.
Wellsted said strike action will have a knock-on effect on communities that rely on the mines for their livelihoods, as well as on suppliers and municipalities. “We don’t want a strike because of its negative consequences for everybody. These gold operations are 6% of our profits. If unions strike, [we will implement the] no work, no pay [policy],” he said.
He said contingency plans are in place should the strike go ahead. “We will shut down operations and stop ventilating [the underground shafts]. That’s a huge part of the cost of electricity, ventilating the workplace to ensure the environment is safe to work in ... that way, they can be on strike for years and it would not impact too heavily on us,” he said.
Sibanye will not be intimidated into making any decisions willy-nilly, Wellsted said.
He said the company is happy to engage with the unions on Monday. “But we are not going to increase our offer. We are not going to shift from our current offer. We think it’s a very fair offer to employees. Anything beyond [that] will start to impact on our stakeholders. That’s our final offer.”
The mining industry was among the best-performing sectors of the economy as it benefited from the global commodity price boom last year. It employs about 450,000 people and contributes 9% to GDP.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.