Sibanye says union wage demands may lead to more closures
JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s struggling gold sector would be forced to close more mine shafts if labor unions’ wage demands were implemented, according to the country’s top producer of the precious metal.
The largest union in the gold industry, the National Union of Mineworkers, this week said it’s deadlocked over pay with companies including Sibanye Gold and AngloGold Ashanti after numerous rounds of negotiations. Producers argue they can’t afford the union’s demands as they struggle to control operating costs, which have prompted the industry to reduce output and cut thousands of jobs.
“You can get quick wins from negotiations but then we end up having to close shafts and businesses -- that’s not in the national interest,” Sibanye CEO Neal Froneman said Thursday. “Their demands will lead to shaft closures.”
Sibanye’s gold production dropped 13% to 598 500 oz during the first half of this year as fatal accidents disrupted operations. In July, the company cut its forecast for gold output this year by 6 percent. And it’s not alone in seeing declines – the country’s gold production fell for a ninth straight month in June as rising costs, aging infrastructure and accidents affect profit and output.
Sibanye, which employs more than 40 000 workers at its gold mining operations in South Africa, had negative cash flow from its gold business, Froneman said. Unions need to “be reasonable” and allow for flexibility in the negotiations, he said.
“We are not generating cash and I think organized labour needs to understand that,” he said. “This perception that we make a lot of money in gold needs to change.”
It would be “dangerous” for the industry if the unions called a strike and work stoppages are unlikely to achieve the desired result, Froneman said. The gold producers in the collective bargaining unit employ about 80 000 workers.
“A strike is not going to intimidate us -- it never has and never will, it’s not the right mechanism to resolve these issues,” Froneman said. “We are flexible within the constraints of the business. The unions haven’t moved at all, they need to be flexible.”
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation