JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) − The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) will demand a pay rise of 20% on basic wages when it begins its negotiations with world number-one platinum producer Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) on Wednesday.

The union has already started wage negotiations with Impala Platinum (Implats), where it demanded a 13.5% to 14% wage increase, but was offered 5.5%.

NUM deputy general secretary Oupa Komane said on Tuesday that the union believed that its wage demands from Amplats were “not only reasonable, but also reachable”.

“We are quite hopeful that we are not going to be negotiating forever. We should meet once, or twice and then agree,” he said in a statement.

Besides an above-inflation wage hike, the NUM is also demanding that Amplats extend its thirteenth cheque to all workers, increase its medical aid contribution to R2 000 a month and convert its hostels to family units.

On leave, the NUM is demanding seven months fully-paid maternity leave, family responsibility leave of 15 days and study leave of three days before examination.

Meanwhile, Eddie Majadibodu, NUM’s chief negotiator at Implats, said that the union rejected a 5.5% wage hike and that it would meet the platinum company again later on Tuesday.

The union is demanding a one-year deal, while Implats is motivating for a three-year deal with inflation plus 1% increases in the second and third years.

“We are extremely disappointed with such proposals, 5.5% is a no-no for us and a three year deal is not even a consideration,” Majadibodu said.

The NUM is demanding a 14% wage increase from gold miners, which offered a 4% hike through the Chamber of Mines. Coal negotiations were under way on Tuesday.

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