18 July, 2011
Mediated negotiations this week between ICEM affiliate National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the Chamber of Mines in South Africa will prove pivotal in determining if gold and coal strikes occur in the coming weeks. The NUM has also declared disputes in the nation’s important platinum mining sector, with talks between the union and Anglo Platinum, Impala, and Northam Platinum at a stalemate.
On 7 July, the NUM filed a declaration of dispute with South Africa’s Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) over unresolved issues – including pay awards – in the coal industry. Talks on 8 July with the Chamber went nowhere, with employers refusing to budge from an offer that is less than the inflation rate. The Chamber represents AngloCoal SA, Exxaro, Xstrata Coal, Delmas Coal, Optimum Coal, and Springlake.
The two sides will meet again this Wednesday, 20 July, under the auspices of the CCMA. There are a combined 250,000 miners covered under the coal and gold talks with the NUM representing 80% of those workers. Gold companies represented by the Chamber include AngloGold Ashanti, Harmony Gold, and Goldfields.
If no solution is found this week, the CCMA is likely to issue a certification of non-resolution, which means the union need only give employers a 48-hour notice before striking. In coal, the NUM is seeking a 14% pay hike, while the Chamber of Mines has been steadfast on granting only a 4.5% increase for the lowest mine classifications and 4.2% for others.
A coal strike will severely cripple state-run electricity producer Eskom, which generates 95% of South Africa’s power needs and 45% across the whole of Africa.
In gold mining, talks failed on 6 July and again on 13 July, after which the NUM filed for dispute resolution with the CCMA. The union is also seeking 14% from the Chamber in the gold talks, while employers have increased their offer from 4.2% to between 5% and 5.5% in the most recent set of talks.
“We have already begun the mobilisation for massive strike action by over 250,000” miners, said NUM General Secretary Frans Baleni. “A real war has just started, a war over a living wage and this is not reversible.”
That war likely will be extended to South Africa’s rich platinum mines, as well, where the nation is the world’s leading producer. On 12 July, NUM declared a dispute with Northam Platinum at the company’s 6,800-worker Zondereinde Division in Limpopo Province, and at two other Northam mines. A day later, a formal dispute was lodged against Impala Platinum, where NUM is seeking 14% for the lower classifications and 13.5% for higher job grades. The union is also polling members at the world’s number one producer, AngloPlatinum, where it is seeking a 20% increase.
One mine strike has already commenced. That is at the chrome mine of Chemstof Pty. Ltd. in Boksfontein, North-West Province, where 200 workers downed tools on 11 July over wage differences, living-out allowances and transport stipends. And at diamond producer DeBeers, the two sides are still far apart over a 2011 wage package.