Management and striking unions at Sibanye-Stillwater’s gold operations are as far apart as ever despite the high-profile intervention this week of mineral resources & energy minister Gwede Mantashe, who at least got the two sides negotiating face-to-face for the first time since workers downed tools.
Mantashe facilitated meetings between Sibanye's management and the leadership of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the Association of Mineworkers & Construction Union (Amcu) on Monday and Thursday.
Speaking on the sidelines of the meeting on Thursday, Mantashe said his role had been limited.
“Our role … is to nudge parties to talk to one another. We are not a negotiator for either the union or the company. We are saying to them, 'You cannot have a strike for two months and you do not talk to each other and you write letters to each other.' Their meeting today and on Monday is a massive move.”
Mantashe said he had been surprised to learn that the unions and management had not met since the strike started on March 10.
“What I did not realise was that they write a letter to one another and they never met. It is a strange way of running negotiations. It reflects the state of labour relations in the country, the capacity of unions and the companies,” the minister said.
“Employers have juniorised bargaining. You do not do that. The last time, Sibanye had a five-month strike. If companies have a war chest that is big enough they can take the strike to the limit and hope they can collapse the unions.
“It is a very strange way to deal with one anther. Because beyond the strike, there should be a relationship.”
Senior officials of the NUM and Amcu held their first direct talks with company management the day after President Cyril Ramaphosa was booed by striking workers at a Cosatu rally in North West.
During the second meeting on Thursday, which went on into the night, the unions offered to reduce their wage hike demand for miners, artisans and officials from 6% to 5.8%. Sibanye is offering 5%.
The unions said they were prepared to cut their demand for a R100 monthly “living out” allowance for entry level mineworkers by half, but would not lower their demand for a R1,000 a month salary increase. This would add up to a total monthly increase of R1,050.
Earlier this month Sibanye made a “final” offer for entry-level employees of a three-year agreement that would include a R50 living-out allowance and an R800 salary hike for a total monthly increase of R850.
In his weekly letter, Ramaphosa said he had to abandon his plans to speak at the rally last Sunday because of the anger of the striking workers.
“It reflects a weakening of trust in their union and federation as well as political leadership, including public institutions,” Ramaphosa said.
Mantashe said on Thursday the unions should “rise to the occasion” and not expect the state to negotiate on their behalf.
“They must stand up and resolve the problem. We had to explain to them [unions and management] over and over that 'you are having a dispute, you are parties to the dispute, and you will resolve it'. No state will come and impose a solution to the dispute.”
NUM general secretary William Mabapa said there was no end in sight to the strike even after the meetings facilitated by Mantashe.
“The reality of the matter is that there is a strike, and this strike will one day come to an end. How it will come to an end, I cannot predict now, I cannot prophesy what will make something settle the strike. I am a leader, I must have hope the strike will come to an end.”
Amcu general secretary Jeff Mphahlele said: “We know the no-work, no-pay principle. However, as unions we have discussed the offer.”
He said only a few employees wanted to return to work so they could receive an income again.
“We are leading 30,000 members in the strike, we cannot just take an isolated case. We have tried to assist them. Members will have challenges and when those challenges start rising, we will be there to support our members. Members know it is better to suffer now.”
Mphahlele said that in light of the stalemate, a secondary strike at Sibanye’s platinum mines in solidarity with colleagues in the gold mines was increasingly likely.
“Indeed, we have mobilised for that. We just have to serve Sibanye with a seven-day notice.”
The COO of Sibanye’s gold operations, Richard Stewart, said the company is not concerned about the threat of a secondary strike.
“If there is a secondary strike we will consider what our options are in that regard. It’s not a threat to us in terms of doing what is right in terms of long-term sustainability.”
Stewart said Sibanye is sticking to its R850 final offer given the importance of sustaining operations for all stakeholders. He said he welcomed Mantashe's involvement to resolve the impasse.
“The minister is as concerned as we are about the damaging impact of the strike to the economy and to the country, and we need to find a way to resolve it.”
In its operating update for the quarter ended March released this week, Sibanye said it had been open to engagement with the unions and had made numerous amendments to its offer.
“Unfortunately, Amcu and the NUM have remained rigid in their demands and rejected all our offers to date. Our final settlement offer is fair, takes into account inflationary living costs and is in the interests of all stakeholders, and we will not be coerced into an agreement which may compromise the sustainability of the South African gold operations and negatively impact other stakeholders.”
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