AMCU to usurp NUM?

The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) is using a well-planned strategy to launch a strike at gold mines that could be just as effective as last year’s debilitating and crippling strike in the platinum mining industry. The trade union will probably call the strike early next year, but the longer it delays the strike, the better, as it will have more time to lure away more NUM members.

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has fallen on hard times. There has never been so much discord and strife during wage talks as the union experienced over the past four months of negotiations with the Chamber of Mines’ gold mine members.

The sacking of Frans Baleni, former general secretary, four weeks before the start of the wage negotiations, came as a major surprise to the whole trade-union movement. 

His successor, David Sipunzi, didn’t have an opportunity to consolidate his position in the trade union before the negotiations kicked off with the Chamber of Mines. He was clearly uncertain and insecure during the negotiations.

NUM’s caucus eventually took a full three weeks to get a mandate to accept the “final” offer for wage increases made by the chamber’s gold mining members on 2 October.

It almost came to blows
“In 20 years, I’ve never been part of such an unpleasant caucus. We almost came to blows,” a prominent member of NUM’s negotiating team said about one of the last meetings before the chamber’s offer was accepted on 2 October.

The offer includes increases of between R600 and R800 a month at the three largest gold producers – AngloGold Ashanti, Sibanye Gold and Harmony Gold – backdated to 1 July this year, and new increases that will come into effect every year in July for two years thereafter.

It was the first time that the negotiations were not held at the Chamber of Mines, but at the Birchwood Conference Centre in Boksburg – at the insistence of Amcu. While the agreement was being signed with two of the gold mining companies – AngloGold and Harmony – there were great shouts of joy in another room where mediators of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) made desperate attempts to convince Amcu to accept the offer.

It was the CCMA that issued a certificate of non-resolution (better known as a strike certificate) to Amcu. The Amcu caucus was jubilant.

This is an excerpt of an article originally published in the 29 October 2015 edition of finweek. Buy and download the magazine here.