AMCU MANDATED TO SETTLE WITH SIBANYE-STILLWATER

THE ASSOCIATION of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) succumbed to the legal onslaught by Sibanye-Stillwater, saying yesterday that it had received an overwhelming mandate from its members to accept a R5 700 proposed settlement to end the four-month wage strike at the company’s gold mines. Amcu said the settlement agreement was proposed by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) and included a R5 000 salary advance as well as debt consolidation, non-deductions of employer contributions to benefits. It also included death benefits of employees who died during the strike and disciplinary issues. “The union is hopeful that this will signal a speedy resolution to the wage dispute of almost four months,” it said. Amcu said it communicated to Sibanye its in-principle acceptance of the proposed settlement, emphasising that the R5 700 should be split over two of the wage agreement terms, which was three years in total, as well as back-pay for the first year of the term. “Even though Sibanye-Stillwater did not accept the proposal by the CCMA, Amcu remains positive that this will create the necessary momentum to see a speedy resolution to the wage dispute. The proposal comes days after the Labour Court yesterday dismissed the union’s application to interdict the Section 189A consultation process at the miner’s gold operations in South Africa. Earlier this month, Amcu approached the court to halt Sibanye from initiating a consultation process that would have resulted in more than 6 600 retrenchments. |