Johannesburg - A wage increase agreement in the coal industry was signed in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
An entry-level hike of 5% was included in an existing agreement and would affect all coal mining companies under the Chamber of Mines, said Frans Baleni, general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers.
The agreement was signed by the NUM, the Chamber of Mines, Solidarity, and Uasa. A R2 000 once-off "sweetener", after tax, would be paid out next month.
Exxaro
[JSE:EXX] decided that instead of the R2 000, it would give lower category workers a 2% increase, and higher category workers 1%.
Baleni said the sweetener was an attempt to strengthen the collective bargaining framework.