Rosenberg and Africa researcher Lily Ghebrai wrote on September 22 that mining unions had rivaling positions on mechanization, profitability and appetite for political risk, but said centralized, sector-wide bargaining in gold is “on its last legs”.
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Two mining companies have signed agreements with unions, ending weeks of negotiations.
South African stocks ended higher on Friday with gold producers among the top gainers after the biggest gold mineworkers union accepted a pay offer while a rebound in the price of the yellow metal added to the bullish sentiment.
But Chamber of Mines spokesperson Charmaine Russel says today’s agreements are still good news.
But the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), which represents close to 30% of workers in the sector, has not and an industry source said the union had received a certificate from the government mediator allowing it to call a strike. Production over the past decade has declined by nearly 8% annually. This could mean any refusal by Amcu would prevent Sibanye from automatically extending the agreement, as the representation of the three other unions only reaches 49%. “There is no clear union majority at Sibanye”. AMCU will not risk such a wildcat strike.
About 30,000 workers could take part in the strike by the NUM. Two smaller unions which represent mostly skilled workers and supervisors accepted the coal companies’ offers last week. As fears continue that up to 20,000 jobs will be cut in the long term due to pressure on the industry, Swiss-based Glencore said on Thursday it was pressing ahead with further retrenchments in its coal operations.
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One option would be to truck coal directly from the mines to power stations.
