Gold miner Sibanye-Stillwater has pleaded with unions to reach a sustainable wage agreement and avoid embarking on a strike as that could have “significant consequences” for its operations.
Asked if the strike could force Sibanye-Stillwater to restructure its operations that could lead to job losses, COO Richard Stewart said the company would do “everything we can to avoid that position”.
Addressing a virtual media briefing on Friday, Stewart said the company was disappointed that no agreement had been reached with the four unions, and that they had not revised their demands despite Sibanye-Stillwater having revised its offer numerous times during the negotiations which started in July.
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), Solidarity and Uasa approached the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) late last month to apply for a certificate of non-resolution after wage talks between the parties deadlocked.
This, after the union rejected a revised proposal by Sibanye-Stillwater, made on November 18, which would have given the lowest-paid employees 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 three-year term, below the inflation rate of 5% recorded in September and October. The workers rejected the proposed deal and stuck to their demand for a wage hike of R1,000 a month for three years.
After the unions rejected the deal, Sibanye-Stillwater reverted to the offer tabled to unions 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, and 4.7% in years two and three, according to the deal.
On Friday, Stewart said the current offer will increase the miner’s wage bill at its gold operations by R1.2bn by July 1, 2023. He said the unions’ wage demand of R1,000 a month “remains unaffordable and would amount to an additional R2.5bn on the wage bill by July 1, 2023”.
The unions’ demands were unsustainable and had no correlation to inflation, he said. “Above-inflation wage increases are simply not sustainable and will have negative consequences for our operations ... the current offer is fair and considers the sustainability of our operations for our stakeholders.”
Stewart said it was important to consider the economic context, stressing there had been hardship across the country, with unprecedented unemployment, while small businesses closed as they struggled to stay afloat during the coronavirus pandemic.
“Mining has done relatively well, but it has not been immune to inflation and the Covid-19 impact on operations,” he said. Challenges dogging the gold mining sector included ageing infrastructure, declining productivity, and an increase in operational, electricity and labour costs, he added.
Over the last decade, electricity and wage increases rose exponentially, with the cost of labour consuming “half of our total costs”, and electricity 20% of costs, he said.
Stewart said electricity is costing the company about “80% more than it did eight years ago”, while wages had increased by 70%. Workers were earning 30% more in real terms that they did a few years ago, he said.
Sibanye-Stillwater and the four unions will meet under the auspices of the CCMA on Monday to finalise picketing rules aimed at ensuring any form of industrial action, should it occur, is done in a lawful, peaceful and orderly manner.
A certificate of non-resolution would then be issued by the CCMA, paving the way for workers to down tools and embark on a strike.
“The next step is for the CCMA to issue a certificate of non-resolution, but we will still engage the four unions. We hope we can reach an agreement that won’t jeopardise our future.
“We will continue to appeal to unions to engage with us and avoid embarking on a strike, to see if we can work towards sustaining these operations for years to come.”
Stewart said strike action was undesirable especially before Christmas, but “if there is no resolution now, we will engage and try to avert the strike”. In the event a strike occurs, the company will do everything in its power to “protect and sustain our operations”.
“We do have to plan for that scenario, but it’s one that we would like to avoid if we can”.
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