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Johannesburg - Anglo Platinum (Amplats) [JSE:AMS] said on Sunday it was suing the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) for R591m ($54m) in damages it said resulted from ongoing strike action by Amcu members.
Amcu-affiliated workers downed tools over three weeks ago at Amplats, the world's No. 1 platinum producer, and also at rivals Impala Platinum (Implats) [JSE:IMP] and Lonmin [JSE:LON] in a sector-wide stoppage over wages that has again rattled business confidence.
"There are increased costs to pay protection services staff overtime, damage to property, and losses occasioned by the loss of production because non-striking workers are being prevented from going to work," Amplats spokesperson Mpumi Sithole told Reuters.
"There is evidence of illegal actions of violence and intimidation and breaching of the picketing rules," she said.
Sithole said the Amplats lawsuit papers had been filed on Friday at a regional high court in Pretoria, but she could not say when the case would start being heard.
Amcu waiting for papers
Amcu president Joseph Mathunjwa told public broadcaster SAFM that Amplats was "trying to break the strike".
Amcu spokesperson Jimmy Gama said the union had not received the papers yet and could not respond until it did.
An Amcu shop steward was killed in a clash with police at an Amplats mine on February 7 and the company said at the time that the strike was becoming violent and that several of its vehicles had been damaged.
Amcu has emerged as the dominant union, poaching tens of thousands of members from the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), which is allied to the ruling ANC.
The vicious union turf war erupted into violence in the platinum sector last year and has killed dozens of people at Lonmin's Marikana mine.
The killings spooked investors and hit the country's credit ratings.
Sides far apart over wages
The current platinum strike, which has affected over 40% of global production of the metal used in emissions-capping catalytic converters in automobiles, has cost companies about 175 000 ounces of lost output to date, according to South Africa's chamber of mines.
There is no immediate end in sight with the two sides far apart on the issue of wages. Amcu is to meet with a government mediator on Monday but there are no direct talks scheduled between the union and companies.
Amcu is demanding a more than doubling of basic pay to R12 500 a month under the battle cry of a "living wage".
Companies say they can ill afford this as they confront rising costs and depressed prices. They have offered increases of up to 9% against an inflation rate of 5.4%.
If Amplats was successful with its damages lawsuit, this could bankrupt Amcu, which claims over 100 000 members.
Given the average wages in the sector at the lower end of the pay scale where Amcu dominates, the union probably has between R5 and R6m a month flowing into its coffers from membership dues.
