A coalition of mining unions demanding above-inflation wage increases at Sibanye-Stillwater is requesting more time to caucus after a marathon meeting on Wednesday.
“As labour, we request Sibanye-Stillwater to release all shop stewards who are members of the labour negotiating team from the four unions to attend a caucus on Monday … in Boksburg,” reads a letter from National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) chief negotiator William Mabapa to Sibanye-Stillwater's senior vice-president, Eric Moepeng.
The meeting on Wednesday was called to communicate the decision of the unions’ members, after a mass meeting at Carletonville outside Johannesburg on Sunday, in which the unions rejected the company's revised wage offer and elected to strike.
This despite Sibanye-Stillwater having come close to meeting the unions’ demands during a meeting on February 4, where it revised its offer of increases of R570-R670 for the lowest-paid employees to R800 for each of the three years.
The unions are sticking to their demand for a R1,000 increase each year of the multiyear agreement.
According to the now-rejected revised proposal, miners, artisans and officials would have received increases of 5% for each of the three years. The Reserve Bank forecasts inflation will average 4.9% in 2022, 4.5% in 2023 and 4.5% in 2024.
If the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), NUM, Solidarity, Uasa and Solidary down tools, the strike could cripple the gold and platinum miner's operations and potentially force the closure of shafts.
If it happens, the industrial action would also underline workers’ determination to receive a greater share of surging profits from Sibanye, whose more than twofold jump in half-year earnings helped it reward shareholders with bumper dividends.
The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) issued a certificate of nonresolution to the unions recently, paving the way for workers to strike.
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