The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) has declared a dispute with Sibanye-Stillwater’s gold division, announcing that wage negotiations have reached a deadlock.
The union, along with three other unions with organisational rights at Sibanye-Stillwater’s gold operations, began wage negotiations on July 14.
AMCU said these talks started after an unusually short, one-year wage agreement had already lapsed on June 30.
In a statement, the union sharply criticised the company's offer.
“Despite gold selling at record highs of more than $3 900/oz and management paying themselves salary hikes of up to 39% and multimillion-rand bonuses, Sibanye-Stillwater offers workers a meagre R650 increase,” the union said.
After a total of five negotiation meetings, the parties reached a deadlock and have now entered the company’s internal dispute resolution process.
AMCU President Joseph Mathunjwa criticised the company's approach to the talks.
“We have seen this approach before. Sibanye-Stillwater sends a junior negotiating team with almost no mandate to negotiate – their only mandate is to stay where their bosses told them to. This then leads to a very frustrating and drawn-out process, which inevitably leads to some sort of dispute,” he said.
The union also highlighted the growing discrepancy between record-high gold prices and the wages of mineworkers in the sector.
The workers are demanding a monthly increase of R1300 ($76) for the lowest-earning mineworkers, and 6.5% for miners, artisans and officials.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor-In-Chief, Rough & Polished
