Coal unions reject revised wage offer

Johannesburg - South African unions in the coal sector have rejected revised wage offers in pay talks, officials said on Tuesday.

"All the unions have rejected the offer and the commissioners are still trying to mediate," said Peter Bailey, who is representing the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the biggest of the four unions, in the talks.

Workers want pay increases of up to 15% and the NUM is seeking a 50% rise for its lowest paid workers, who make R6 000 a month in basic pay.

The Chamber of Mines, which represents Glencore [JSE:GLN], Anglo American Coal and Exxaro [JSE:EXX], raised its offer for lower-paid miners last week to between 6% and 7%, depending on the mine and category of worker, from a previous offer of 5.5% to 6.5%.

More highly skilled and higher-paid workers were offered raises of 4.5% to 5%.

The talks come at a time when producers are closing some shafts in the wake of lower coal prices and, if mediation fails, it could set the stage for potential strikes.