Johannesburg - Intimidation prevented the NUM from
communicating with all its members ahead of further wage talks with the Chamber
of Mines, the trade union said on Friday.
"We are hoping to reach more of them during the course
of the weekend," National Union of Mineworkers spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka
said.
The union had received mixed reactions from the few members
they had managed to interact with during the illegal and unprotected strikes at
several gold mines.
NUM, Solidarity, and Uasa gave feedback on Thursday to the
chamber on a pay structure proposal by employers.
Uasa spokesperson Franz Stehring agreed his members were not
all content with the tabled offer.
"We are not happy... Uasa members are not completely
satisfied, but to bring stabilisation into the system our members have accepted
the offer," he said.
Solidarity was unavailable for comment.
The chamber agreed to give the unions an extension to
communicate the proposals to workers. They had until Monday to return with a
response.
On behalf of AngloGold Ashanti [JSE:ANG], Gold Fields
[JSE:GFI], and Harmony Gold Mining Company [JSE:HAR], the chamber had proposed
doing away with the lowest wage category to increase the industry's entry-level
wage.
A new category would be created for locomotive, loader,
winch, and water jet operators to improve their salaries.
Other employees would have their pay adjusted to preserve the integrity of the present job grading framework. An allowance for rock drill operators was also proposed.