Johannesburg - The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) and platinum firms have signed a settlement agreement following a crippling five-month wage strike.
Workers are expected to return to work on Wednesday.
The platinum miners have been on strike at Anglo Platinum (Amplats) [JSE:AMS], Impala Platinum (Implats) [JSE:IMP] and Lonmin [JSE:LON] since January 23 this year.
All three mines issued statements on the signing of the deal.
Lonmin chief executive Ben Magara said: "The signing of today's agreement brings to an end the extreme hardship suffered by all stakeholders, the country, our communities, suppliers and in particular our employees, over the last five months.
"We believe that signing this agreement with our majority union is the only way forward in re-building our business."
Implats' chief executive, Terence Goodlace, said that he was relieved that Amcu members had accepted the company's fair and final settlement offer.
He also acknowledged the contributions made by the various authorities and senior South African government officials over the last five months to enable this final settlement.
For Implats, the immediate focus will be to ensure a safe return to a normal working environment.
Amplats said the agreement is expected to increase the total labour cost-to-company by 10.5% in year 1, 7.7% in year 2 and 7.1% in year 3 or 8.4% on average over the 3 year period.
The wage deal includes:
- An annual increase of R1 000 per month in basic pay for A and B-band employees in years 1 and 2 and R950 per month in year 3
- Increases in basic pay of 8% per annum for C and D1 for years 1 and 2 and 7.5% for year 3
- Living-out allowances and Housing rent subsidies for employees will increase in line with CPI in year 1 and remain flat in years 2 and 3
- Housing allowance will increase by 8% in year 1 and remain flat in years 2 and 3; and
- Other allowances will increase in line with salary increases in year 1 and there will be no further increases in years 2 and 3.
- Sapa with Fin24