The final round of salary negotiations between Anglo American's Kumba iron-ore and its workforce have begun to break down due to the company's "inexplicable positioning", one union has said.

According to Solidarity, trade unions – including itself, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) – had been pragmatic "given Kumba’s positive financial year results and generous dividends declared".

They asked for an inflation-related increase, while many employment-related demands were also dropped to speed up the settlement, but negotiations have entered their fifth and final round this week.

"Kumba started pleading poverty from the third round and predicted a dark and uncertain future for the mining company over the next three years," said Solidarity General Secretary Gideon du Plessis.

But the iron-ore miner says it proactively increased wages last year already as cost-of-living pressures hit its staff, which it says it values, while it must take its own sustainability into account.

Solidarity said Kumba's final offer for the first year of the agreement is strange as it offers four different percentage increases, mostly lower than average consumer price index (CPI), to respective job categories. It has also proposed three different percentage increases for the second and third years of the agreement.

"What Kumba offers is not only illogical; it also divides and demotivates its workforce," Du Plessis said.

The union said Kumba offered a commitment to the reopening of negotiations if inflation were to rise above a certain percentage, but the wording of the clause was so weak that it has no binding force.

"Kumba must commit to CPI-related increases to finalise the negotiations, to ensure labour peace and to increase their workforce’s motivation," said Du Plessis.

"Solidarity appeals to Kumba not to turn away the trade unions’ hand of good faith extended to the company and not to force the parties into a dispute process. It also would be in its interest to look after its workers due to the extremely high cost of living experienced by workers in the Kathu area and low increases that especially skilled workers had agreed to during the Covid-19 period."

A Kumba spokesperson said the company values its staff and the company’s sustainability when formulating offers. "Last year we proactively adjusted wages upwards to respond to higher-than-expected inflation and the rising cost of living, and we have again built this flexibility into our current offer," said Kumba.

"While negotiations with Solidarity, NUM and AMCU are ongoing, we have made good progress and we’re committed to reaching an amicable agreement in the best interests of our colleagues and company."