JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Hundreds of members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) have started industrial action at the Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) operation, a joint venture between Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton.

RBM noted that members of a second union, the Richards Bay Employee Union (RBEU), have accepted the company’s three-year wage agreement and were at work on Friday.

The RBEU members would receive an 8% wage increase in the first year of the agreement, to be followed by increases of consumer price inflation plus 1,5%, or a guaranteed 6% increase, in years two and three.

Further, housing allowance increases would be linked to consumer price inflation over the three-year period.

RBM said that it was regrettable that the 586 NUM members at the operation had not accepted the offer.

The NUM, however, disputed the claim that only 586 of the 1 800 workforce at RBM were NUM members, saying that 1 700 of its members worked at RBM.

“The NUM calls on all its members across all Rio Tinto and BHP operations to hold general meetings to consider bringing the entire operations to a complete stop. The NUM has this morning recorded a total closure at RBM and will next week consider bussing workers from across operations to Richards Bay,” the union stated.

The NUM is demanding a 10% wage increase in a one-year wage agreement and a rise in the monthly housing allowance to between R4 000 and R6 000, depending on the employee group.

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