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Johannesburg - The Association of Mining and Construction Union’s central demand in the gold sector is for an extra R7 000 on the basic wage of every worker.
For higher-up workers it is an extra R6 500. Depending on what job grade you’re in, this can amount to more than 100% – or a lot less than that.
The lowest-paid workers currently earn a basic wage of R5 787, so the demand would add up to more than the symbolic number of R12 500 a month before benefits and allowances.
One of the most important things about the demand is that it is far less impressive for the higher-up workers. The idea is to close the lingering apartheid wage gap between the traditionally white mine officials and the traditionally black rank and file.
If you add the union’s demands for higher living-out allowance and other benefits, it all adds up to increasing the gold sector’s wage bill by at least R1bn a month, from the current level of about R2bn.
The demand is far higher than the wage settlement that ended last year’s strike in the platinum sector and probably represents the usual union tactic of starting with a very high demand, which allows them to gradually cut it down as the wage negotiations go on.
The demands were outlined by the union’s president, Joseph Mathunjwa, yesterday. The bargaining process is expected to gain momentum soon, because a previous two-year agreement expires at the end of next month.
