By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Members affiliated to the National Union of Metal Workers (NUM) and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) are still on strike at Sibanye-Stillwater.
The strike, which has entered its fourth week has halted operations at one of the country’s largest metal producers.
Sibanye Stillwater CEO Neal Froneman said the group would stand firm on its wage offer as the world faces a potential economic downturn.
“There is real likely that the world is going into an economic recession in the next short while and we can’t let buoyant commodity prices confused us in terms of wages and salary service,” Froneman said in response to questions at the Platinum Group Metals (PGM) industry day on Wednesday.
NUM’s Lupert Chilwane said a memorandum was submitted two weeks ago.
“What I can confirm as the National Union of Mineworkers, we are still waiting to hear from Sibanye-Stillwater on the memorandum that we submitted to two weeks ago regarding the demands of workers.
“This is the R1000 wage increase demand for underground and surface workers, and 6% for officials, artisans and miners”
However, Sibanye is currently only offering R700 for each of the next three years.
But Froneman said Sibanye will not tolerate increases way above inflation. “The industry as a whole has made major catch-ups over the given the last few decades of wages and in our view, the wage profile is fair. So if you want to create a cost squeeze then certainly agree to about inflation wage increases,” he said.
He said the group was happy to share value but would not do it by ratcheting up fixed costs.
“We will take a firm line, whether it’s with wages or Eskom increases, we need to be very robust stance and, probably as a country, nip these above-inflation increases in the bud,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that that many other people become the meat in the sandwich for the wrong reasons.”
Striking members of the two largest unions at Sibanye-Stillwater’s gold operations are set to lose a month’s pay, with the lowest-paid surface or underground employees, who take home about R16,000 a month, had by Tuesday lost R15,456 of their guaranteed income, which includes basic pay, holiday leave and living out allowance as well as provident fund contribution.