AngloGold in wage deal with militant union
AngloGold Ashanti was the first major gold producer to sign a three-year wage agreement with three unions, staving off the potential strike looming over three other companies, including SA’s largest gold miner, Sibanye-Stillwater.
Although AngloGold was one of four companies under the auspices of the Minerals Council SA involved in the talks with four unions, it was the first to reach an agreement after the unions declared disputes with Sibanye, Harmony Gold and Village Main Reef.
But the National Union of Mineworkers – the secondlargest union at AngloGold’s Mponeng mine and its Mine Waste Solutions tailings retreatment operation, representing nearly 33% of the firm’s 7,918 employees – did not sign the wage agreement.
Commentators noted surprise that the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), seen as the more militant of the unions, would be first to reach a wage agreement.
A new shift system included in the agreement is important for AngloGold’s loss-making Mponeng mine, said Chris Sheppard, the head of the SA business.
Mponeng made an interim loss of $13m in the six months to end-June, more than doubling the $6m loss the year before.
“The new shift arrangement is an important factor, as it provides an opportunity for us to realise improvements in productivity and safe production, which are essential to the long-term sustainability of the business,” Sheppard said.
“The agreements on pay and shift arrangements are key pillars in the strategy to complete the turnaround of the business, which represents around 13% of the company’s total production.”
AngloGold agreed to increase pay for its lowest-earning employees by R1,000 a month, which includes a R300 a month payment for agreeing to working the new shift arrangement in the first year.
The second and third years of the deal would entail wages rising another R1,000 a month, respectively.
“The agreement reached between AngloGold Ashanti and Amcu, Uasa and Solidarity – which together represent 62% of employees in the bargaining unit at AngloGold Ashanti – is focused on optimising the firm’s remaining operation in SA,” said the council’s chief negotiator, Motsamai Motlhamme.
Amcu has urged the other firms to follow AngloGold’s offer. “We can only hope that other mine companies can follow the same precedent as we continue in the conciliation processes with them,” said Amcu general secretary Jimmy Gama.
With the unions in dispute with Sibanye, Harmony and Village Main Reef, talks are now facilitated by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.
“Talks with all unions have continued to be constructive,” Motlhamme said.
The centralised collective bargaining model allows for separate companies to reach different agreements with the unions as evidenced in more than 30 years of the system.
In the past, smaller companies have reached different agreements from their bigger peers as unions acknowledged the varying abilities of companies to absorb wage increases.