JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) - Wage negotiations at the gold and uranium producer Simmer & Jack (Simmers) reached a deadlock earlier this week at the group’s Buffelsfontein mine outside Stilfontein and a dispute has been declared, the trade union Solidarity said on Friday.

The trade union has brought an application for mediation at the Council for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration’s (CCMA) offices in Klerksdorp.

Wage negotiations at the company started in March. But the union said that, after four rounds of negotiations, it was now insisting on a wage increase of consumer price inflation plus 2%, or a minimum of 10%. The company was reportedly offering an increase of 8%.

Solidarity initially demanded an increase of 15%, while Simmers started negotiations with an offer of 5%.

Solidarity spokesperson Jaco Kleynhans stressed that, employees at Buffelsfontein had agreed with management to take a 20% cut in their total packages after Simmers took over the mine, which had been liquidated by DRD Gold in 2005.

“This means that the mine is still remunerating their employees at far below the industry norm and therefore an increase of 8% cannot be accepted,” he said.

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