Gold majors, AMCU continue to thrash out issues of representation
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Gold producers AngloGold Ashanti, Harmony Gold and Sibanye Gold this week met with the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) in a further effort to resolve differences of opinion on representation, after the union last week walked out of wage negotiations, taking issue with the findings of a producer-sanctioned audit that put AMCU’s membership at around 30% of the companies’ total workforce.
Maintaining its confidence in the accuracy of the data, which it described as an accurate reflection of employees’ union choices, the gold majors said their companies’ systems had been extensively reviewed and audited, with all other unions accepting the accuracy of the process.
“Nonetheless, we remain concerned that there appears to be a very real difference in opinion between the companies and AMCU and it is that which we are seeking to address and resolve. We need to achieve a level of trust between the parties for any collective agreement to work,” the miners said in a joint statement.
According to data released by the gold producers, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) currently accounted for 52% of union representation in the gold industry, followed by AMCU, with 30%, and Uasa and Solidarity at 7% and 2% respectively.
However, Reuters this week quoted AMCU spokesperson Jimmy Gama as saying he was “convinced” this his union had displaced archrival NUM as the majority union in the sector.
“Any conclusion which suggests that we are not a majority at these mines is misplaced and lacks credence," he commented.
The gold companies said they had, meanwhile, invited AMCU to further engage with them on July 17 to reach a common understanding around the veracity of the representation data.
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