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Johannesburg - The Labour Court reserved judgment on Friday in an urgent interdict by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) to prevent Impala Platinum (Implats) [JSE:IMP] and Anglo American (Amplats) [JSE:AMS] from communicating wage settlement offers to mine workers.
"Judgment has been reserved until Monday, 2 June," spokesperson for the platinum producers Charmane Russell said in a statement.
The court heard an urgent application to prevent Amplats and Implats from conveying pay offers to Amcu members, and to prevent Implats from conducting surveys of its employees.
The survey is on whether employees wanted to return to work.
"The application against Lonmin [JSE:LON] has been postponed due to Lonmin's further participation in the Labour Court mediation process which will be conducted today and tomorrow."
Russell said the platinum producers Amplats, Implats and Lonmin, continued to support the work of the inter-governmental task team set up earlier this week. She said a meeting with the task team continued on Friday.
Newly appointed Mineral Resources Minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi announced the task team on Wednesday, to resolve the strike in the platinum mining sector.
The team comprised officials from the departments of mineral resources, labour and the National Treasury, supported by representatives from the mining companies and Amcu.
On Friday, the CEOs of the three companies, Chris Griffith, Terence Goodlace, and Ben Magara, said they remained committed to the resolution of the wage dispute and to reaching an "affordable and sustainable" agreement.
"Communication is not something that only started when the strike began in January; communication with our employees is an ongoing process and includes a wide variety of channels, including text and voice messages," they said in a statement.
"We remain committed to dialogue with Amcu and other stakeholders in our collective efforts to end the strike."
Amcu members at the three companies downed tools on January 23, demanding a basic monthly salary of R12 500. They rejected an offer by the companies that would bring their pay to R12 500 by 2017.
Labour Court-facilitated talks aimed at resolving the more than four-month-old wage strike were continuing.
