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MILITANT union leader Joseph Mathunjwa and his gang of merry men and women will next week be making life terrible for the government, businesses, thousands of investors and the whole country.
Militant trade union the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), in its continued fight with rival National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), could bring production at Lonmin's Rustenburg mine to a screeching standstill for the third time since August last year.
On Wednesday Amcu treasurer Jimmy Gama said about 18 000 union members would embark on strike action at Marikana if the platinum miner failed to sign a “recognition agreement” which will officially confirm the union’s majority status.
The union reportedly held a meeting with its members on Wednesday, during which they voted to participate in strike action if an agreement was not reached.
“They [Lonmin] are still refusing to sign a recognition agreement that confirms what they have been telling the nation. Unfortunately, they still do not agree with some of the issues that form part of the recognition agreement,” Gama said.
“If it is not signed and those issues are not dealt with, it would enable us as a union to exercise our rights and represent our members fully at the workplace.”
He said on Wednesday the union would give 48 hours' notice and on Saturday next week, workers could launch the strike.
And it is well known that Amcu can embark on strike action on the spur of the moment, cause damage to the economy and never regret it.
This means they are not just threatening to go on strike, they certainly will go on a violent strike if needs be.
But they should know that the strike will cost Lonmin millions of rands in lost production. The country’s economy and its stock market will also lose billions.
South Africans’ concerns over "a new winter of discontent” is right on the mark.
Truth be told, unions have gained an amazing influence in recent years, indisputably leading to a rise in industrial action.
This is despite the fact that the government now gets involved in trying to fix problems between unions and companies.
Previously, the South African government preferred to leave companies and unions to fix their own disputes.
But in the recent past, we have seen Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu get her hands dirty in a couple of disputes in the mining sector.
This is not enough though. Ministers in other sectors still leave unions and firms to iron out their differences, but this has messed up everything instead.
This has resulted in the labour strife continuing and the government's reputation and the country's currency taking a heavy hammering.
This happens at a time when South Africa is in desperate need of foreign capital.
Only last week, official data showed that the economy slowed sharply to 0.9% growth in the first quarter of this year as Africa’s economic powerhouse battled to regain speed.
Gross domestic product growth slumped below expectations from 2.1% at the end of last year, with a 1.2% fall in output by manufacturing industry.
The rand sagged to four-year lows last week, remaining defenceless to a deepening labour crisis.
Next week’s protest is a danger to the country's economic rescue and should teach the government some tactics.
Government should now pay attention to the labour strikes that are shaking the country.
Next week’s strike could signal a new level of conflict between Amcu and Lonmin [JSE:LON], because this time around public sympathy for the strikers could be very limited.
The government should capitalise on this.
Many South Africans believe it is unwise for Amcu to make the country and Lonmin pay such a heavy price, just for a recognition agreement.
Can someone please ask Mathunjwa and his bunch of merry men and women to put a stop to this madness?
- Fin24
*Mzwandile Jacks is a freelance journalist. Opinions expressed are his own.
Militant trade union the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), in its continued fight with rival National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), could bring production at Lonmin's Rustenburg mine to a screeching standstill for the third time since August last year.
On Wednesday Amcu treasurer Jimmy Gama said about 18 000 union members would embark on strike action at Marikana if the platinum miner failed to sign a “recognition agreement” which will officially confirm the union’s majority status.
The union reportedly held a meeting with its members on Wednesday, during which they voted to participate in strike action if an agreement was not reached.
“They [Lonmin] are still refusing to sign a recognition agreement that confirms what they have been telling the nation. Unfortunately, they still do not agree with some of the issues that form part of the recognition agreement,” Gama said.
“If it is not signed and those issues are not dealt with, it would enable us as a union to exercise our rights and represent our members fully at the workplace.”
He said on Wednesday the union would give 48 hours' notice and on Saturday next week, workers could launch the strike.
And it is well known that Amcu can embark on strike action on the spur of the moment, cause damage to the economy and never regret it.
This means they are not just threatening to go on strike, they certainly will go on a violent strike if needs be.
But they should know that the strike will cost Lonmin millions of rands in lost production. The country’s economy and its stock market will also lose billions.
South Africans’ concerns over "a new winter of discontent” is right on the mark.
Truth be told, unions have gained an amazing influence in recent years, indisputably leading to a rise in industrial action.
This is despite the fact that the government now gets involved in trying to fix problems between unions and companies.
Previously, the South African government preferred to leave companies and unions to fix their own disputes.
But in the recent past, we have seen Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu get her hands dirty in a couple of disputes in the mining sector.
This is not enough though. Ministers in other sectors still leave unions and firms to iron out their differences, but this has messed up everything instead.
This has resulted in the labour strife continuing and the government's reputation and the country's currency taking a heavy hammering.
This happens at a time when South Africa is in desperate need of foreign capital.
Only last week, official data showed that the economy slowed sharply to 0.9% growth in the first quarter of this year as Africa’s economic powerhouse battled to regain speed.
Gross domestic product growth slumped below expectations from 2.1% at the end of last year, with a 1.2% fall in output by manufacturing industry.
The rand sagged to four-year lows last week, remaining defenceless to a deepening labour crisis.
Next week’s protest is a danger to the country's economic rescue and should teach the government some tactics.
Government should now pay attention to the labour strikes that are shaking the country.
Next week’s strike could signal a new level of conflict between Amcu and Lonmin [JSE:LON], because this time around public sympathy for the strikers could be very limited.
The government should capitalise on this.
Many South Africans believe it is unwise for Amcu to make the country and Lonmin pay such a heavy price, just for a recognition agreement.
Can someone please ask Mathunjwa and his bunch of merry men and women to put a stop to this madness?
- Fin24
*Mzwandile Jacks is a freelance journalist. Opinions expressed are his own.
