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Sibanye gold strike finally ends, eyes turn to PGM pay talks

Sibanye gold strike finally ends, eyes turn to PGM pay talks
Ed Stoddard
By Ed Stoddard
12 Jun 2022
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The strike at Sibanye-Stillwater’s gold operations finally ended after a marathon round of talks that extended late into the night on 10 June. Attention now turns to wage talks at the company’s cash-spinning platinum group metals mines.

A week after a broad agreement appeared to have been reached, the deal was finally clinched late on Friday, 10 June, after Sibanye agreed to extend a one-off hardship payment of R3,000 to the lowest-paid miners to artisans and other more skilled and high-paid categories. Thus ends a three-month strike led by Numcu — the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu).

To wit, the agreement will be for three years effective from 1 July. The lowest-paid part of the workforce — known as Category 4 to 8 employees — will get a pay hike of R1,000 a month in the first year, R900 a month in the second, and R750 a month in the third. In percentage terms, in the first year the increase is 7.7% and 5.2% in the third. 

Miners, artisans and officials will get 5% raises in years one and three and, in the second, roughly the same increase depending on the consumer inflation rate. 

Inflation is running at 5.9% and expected to accelerate as food and fuel prices climb. This is clearly one of the factors driving wage expectations, especially among the rank and file, most of whom have several dependents. 

After losing three months worth of wages, it’s doubtful that workers are very far ahead. The lowest categories will cumulatively get R31,800 more in total on their basic wages over the course of three years, which is roughly what they lost to the strike. 

The basic wage is not the full picture and is topped up by several other payments, including housing allowances, bonuses and medical aid contributions. One interesting thing to emerge from the agreement is a commitment from the company to explore home ownership options through a central housing committee, which will include union representatives. 

‘This is the war’


Amcu president Joseph Mathunjwa, in video footage obtained by Business Maverick, pulled no punches in remarks he made as the talks wrapped up. Indeed, one could have been forgiven for thinking that the strike was starting, not ending.

“We understand you [Sibanye] are an employer and have to make money. But the manner in which you make money I think you forgot is wickedness. Because this money is made on the back of the black poor,” he said. “This is the war; the White Monopoly Capital has declared war against the black workers in South Africa… We are not going to allow the White Monopoly Capital to frustrate the future of a black child.”

Mathunjwa went on to describe the toil of workers so that “one man could get R300-million” — a reference to Sibanye CEO Neal Froneman’s pay package from last year that consisted mostly of shares.

“I think it’s for the last this time,” he said. That’s actually up to shareholders to decide, but Mathunjwa’s message was clear: labour is taking a dim view of executive remuneration at Sibanye.

Mathunjwa also thanked Sibanye for “unifying us” — a reference to Amcu’s joining of hands with its former arch rival NUM. Among other developments, this has put a lid on the union violence that has periodically rocked the mining sector over the past decade, which is a welcome change.

“We are going to intensify the struggle. Watch this space,” Mathunjwa said. 

PGM wage talks


It was vintage Mathunjwa and it does not bode well for the platinum group metals (PGM) wage talks. But those operations are far more profitable than Sibanye’s gold mines, putting the company under pressure on several fronts to reach an agreement without a strike, not least because that is a revenue stream it will not want to lose. 

NUM’s soft-spoken president Dan Baipile struck a more diplomatic tone than Mathunjwa, while also pointing out that Sibanye had united the unions. 

“You [Sibanye] have united the unions this time,” he said. 

Frankly, NUM and Amcu have united before, including in wage talks with Harmony Gold last year that reached a settlement without workers downing tools. But there is an emerging perception that labour has a special dislike for Sibanye’s management. 

What will this mean for the PGM wage talks? 

Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) has signed a five-year wage agreement with increases that are basically north of 7%. Amcu’s initial wage demands to Sibanye have been for hikes of up to 40%, but the Amplats deal may serve as the template, at least from labour’s point of view.

As Mathunjwa said, this is a space to watch. DM/BM

 

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