Striking employees at Sibanye-Stillwater’s gold operations on Tuesday rejected the miner’s final settlement offer of R850 each year for three years, saying the “whopping” R300m CEO Neal Froneman earned in 2021 strengthened their resolve to push ahead with their demand for above-inflation wage increases.
The protracted strike action by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), which jointly represent about 25,000 of the 31,000 employees at Sibanye’s gold operations, will enter its seventh week on Wednesday.
Sibanye on Friday said the final settlement offer, which includes an annual increase of R50 in the living-out allowance, would translate to an increase of 7.8% in basic wages in year one, 7.2% in year two and 6.8% in year three, and would increase the mining group’s wage bill by R1.67bn over the three-year period, excluding concessions made for non-wage demands. The SA Reserve Bank has forecast a headline inflation rate of 5.8% for 2022.
The two unions, who are demanding an increase of R1,000 a month, which amounts to a 9.8% rise in year one, 8.8% in year two and 8.2% in year three for entry-level workers, including surface and underground miners, took the final settlement offer to their members for a mandate at the weekend.
Amcu national treasurer Jimmy Gama told Business Day on Tuesday: “We held mass meetings over the weekend, and the final one was held at the Beatrix Mine in the Free State on Monday. Our members rejected the offer. They are adamant that they want a R1,000 increase, a R100 increase in living-out allowance, and a 6% wage increase for miners, artisans and officials.”
Froneman cashes in
Gama said it was “disingenuous” of Froneman to tell striking workers, who have lost over R1bn in wages since the strike began on March 9 2022, that the company could not meet their wage demands.
Froneman earned R300.3m in 2021 due to the global commodity price boom and record-high company share prices. In 2020, he took home R62.73m. “How can a man who earned a whopping R300m tell someone who is seeking a mere R1,000 that they can't afford the increase. It’s very disingenuous,” Gama said.
“Workers can’t go on strike, lose this amount of money in wages, and go back to work with nothing. That’s the position they have taken. They are saying they want a R1,000 increase. They have become very angry after learning that Froneman earned R300m in 2021.”
How can [CEO Neal Froneman] who earned a whopping R300m tell someone who is seeking a mere R1 000 that they can't afford a R1000 increase. It’s very disingenuous
— Amcu national treasurer Jimmy Gama
Gama said mineworkers risked their lives every day and that they deserved a share when the company made profit. “Harmony Gold afforded to give workers a R1,000 increase. Sibanye is bigger than Harmony Gold, so what’s stopping Sibanye from giving us the same increase,” he said.
Offer ‘in the interests of all stakeholders’
Sibanye-Stillwater spokesperson James Wellsted said it was regrettable that the two unions had opted to decline the settlement offer, “particularly given the significant impact the strike continues to have on employees”.
“We believe our offer is fair, takes into account inflationary living costs, considers the sustainability of the SA gold operations and is in the interests of all stakeholders,” Wellsted said.
“We have made various amendments to our offer in an attempt to reach an agreement, yet organised labour has remained rigid in its demands. Unless there is a willingness to engage in good faith by union leadership, we see little point in further engagement. We will not be coerced into an agreement that may compromise the sustainability of the SA gold operations.”
He said these operations — which account for 7% of group profit — would resume when the strike had ended, employees reported for work and the operations made safe.
“As of today [Tuesday], the strike has continued for 49 days. Striking employees have lost R1.1bn in wages and government has lost R123m in [personal income tax] and salary-related levies, and significantly more in lost [company] taxes and mining royalties,” Wellsted said, adding that striking employees had lost two years of benefits that they would have received from the negotiated increase.
When asked what the company’s response was to the unions’ view that if the company could pay Froneman R300m, then it could afford their demands, Wellsted said: “As we indicated at the outset of [the] gold wage negotiations, these negotiations related specifically to our gold operations. Any agreement we reach during these wage negotiations must consider the sustainability of our gold operations and the impact on other stakeholders.”
Sibanye, the world’s largest platinum group metals producer, had previously offered unions a R700 pay rise and a R100 increase in the living-out allowance each year for three years, and a 5% pay increase for artisans, miners and officials over the course of the multiyear agreement. Two other unions, the United Association of SA (Uasa) and Solidarity, subsequently accepted the offer.
The mining industry contributes about 9% to GDP and directly employs about 450,000 people.
Sibanye’s share price gained 2.06% to R54.09 on Tuesday and is now up about 10% so far this year.
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