Johannesburg - The SA Chamber of Mines will meet unions in
the gold mining sector on Monday to get the response to the offer tabled by
employers last week.
"Unions are not making demands yet. They are coming
back with a response on the offer which was tabled by employers last
week," said chamber spokesperson Vusi Mabena.
Mabena said a press release would be issued if the meeting
was concluded on Monday.
Last week, 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.
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said on Friday
intimidation prevented it from communicating with all its members.
The NUM said it received mixed reactions from the few
members it interacted with during the illegal and unprotected strikes at
several gold mines.
Uasa said its members were not satisfied with the employers' offer.