AngloGold Ashanti wage agreement sets standard for other mining houses to match
17 September 2018
The agreement that Solidarity and Amcu today signed with AngloGold Ashanti will now be presented to Sibanye-Stillwater and Harmony Gold as the salary increase these companies will have to match in order to reach a settlement.
The AngloGold Ashanti agreement provides for, inter alia, a salary increase of 6,5% for year one of the agreement and 6,5% or CPI (whatever is the higher) for each of the following two years for miners, artisans and officials; a salary increase of R1 000 per annum for the next three years for Category 4 to 8 employees, and an increase of R100 per annum on the housing allowance. AngloGold Ashanti’s open and constructive approach to salary negotiations, retrenchment consultation and trade union recognition is characteristic of a sound approach to labour relations, and this is why a win-win wage agreement could be reached today.
According to Gideon du Plessis, General Secretary of Solidarity, this settlement is a victory for collective bargaining and it once again proves that it is unnecessary to declare a dispute in order to reach an agreement. “It is especially Sibanye-Stillwater who should stop playing games and start negotiating in good faith. The company is always moving the goalposts, making vague commitments to burning issues. It looks like Sibanye-Stillwater has been trying to frustrate trade unions with its destructive approach in order to incite unions to go on strike and then using such strikes as an excuse to close especially their Beatrix shafts,” said Gideon du Plessis.
According to Du Plessis, Harmony Gold’s approach is more progressive than that of Sibanye, and the possibility of a settlement with Harmony is within reach and could be sealed on Thursday if Harmony would revise their current 5,5% offer and bring it into line with the AngloGold Ashanti offer – otherwise there will be no agreement.
“Village Main Reef’s chief executive addressed unions on Friday, 14 September 2018 on the company’s financial and operational challenges. But the parties are very close to reaching a settlement that will not threaten the company’s sustainability,” Du Plessis explained.
The negotiations with Sibanye-Stillwater, Harmony Gold and Village Main Reef will be continued on Thursday, 20 September 2018 under facilitation of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA). However, there is a strong possibility that the unions will declare a deadlock with some of the mining houses and proceed to strike if the employers' revised wage increase offers are not favourable.
Issued by Gideon du Plessis, General Secretary, Solidarity, 17 September 2018
