A coalition of four mining unions will meet soon to map a way forward after the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) this week issued a certificate of non-resolution allowing workers to embark on a strike at gold and platinum miner Sibanye-Stillwater’s operations in support of their demands for above-inflation wage increases.
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), Solidarity and Uasa had approached the CCMA in November to apply for a strike certificate after wage talks between the parties deadlocked.
Sibanye-Stillwater spokesperson James Wellsted said in a statement on Friday that the certificate permits the unions to embark on a strike and the “company to implement a lockout within a 12-month period from issuance. Both parties need to give the counterparty 48 hours’ notice before embarking on any action”.
“Sibanye-Stillwater continues to urge unions and employees to reconsider the company’s offer which is in line with consumer price inflation (CPI), and follows several years of above-CPI increases ensuring that employees are fairly remunerated while being equally fair to all stakeholders,” said Wellsted.
“Sibanye-Stillwater will continue to engage with the unions in an attempt to reach a fair and reasonable agreement but will not be coerced into accepting a wage settlement that compromises the interests of other stakeholders.”
The four unions approached the CCMA after rejecting a revised proposal by Sibanye-Stillwater, made on November 18, which would have given the lowest-paid employees increases of between R570 and R670 a month 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 5.5% recorded in November 2021. 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 between R520 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.
The company has said the unions’ wage demands were unaffordable and would add an additional R2.5bn to the wage bill by July 2023, while the current offer the company had proposed would increase Sibanye-Stillwater’s wage bill at its gold operations by R1.2bn.
“This offer excludes performance bonuses and other variable pay increments that comprise a large component of employees’ remuneration,” said Wellsted.
As a result of the protracted negotiations, he said, “Sibanye-Stillwater decided in December 2021 to pay employees backpay for July, August, September, October and November 2021 based on the current wage offer, even though an agreement on wage negotiations with unions had not yet been reached”.
“This considered the impact that Covid-19 had on the country over the past two years and provided much needed financial support for many employees, who are the main breadwinners for their families and often extended families, during the festive season break.”
Solidarity general secretary Gideon du Plessis told Business Day that the union had started a process with its members to obtain a mandate on whether to down tools.
“Most of the times in a mandating process, members will tell you that you have one or two more attempts to engage with the company.If all else fails, only then do you get a mandate to initiate a strike process. That’s where we are at the moment,” said Du Plessis.
NUM national spokesperson Livhuwani Mammburu said the coalition of unions “will meet and map the way forward. We can’t comment much”.
In December, Sibanye-Stillwater COO Richard Stewart warned that a strike would have significant consequences for its gold operations, adding that the company would do “everything we can to avoid that position”.
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