https://www.miningweekly.com

World's biggest platinum miners ask court to block strike

27th February 2019

By: Bloomberg

  

Font size: - +

JOHANNESBURG – South African platinum producers, the world’s biggest miners of the metal, have asked a court to block a planned strike by one of the country’s largest mining unions that the companies say would further hurt the struggling industry.

Anglo American Platinum, the world’s top platinum-group metals (PGMs) supplier, and other producers want the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) to be denied the legal right to start a seven-day strike at platinum mines on February 28. The walkout would follow a strike over wages that’s been underway at Sibanye Gold’s gold mines since November, and worsen already fraught labor relations.

“We are of the view that AMCU is not acting in the best interests of workers, or the industry,” the Anglo American unit said. The outcome of the court interdict to block the strike is expected Wednesday.

Industry-wide action would signal deteriorating relations between producers and the militant union that held the longest-ever strike in the country’s platinum sector in 2014. Producers there operate some of the world’s deepest, costliest and most labor-intensive mines, and are bracing for a fresh round of wage talks with AMCU this year. The threat of more strikes also comes as palladium, which is mined with platinum, surges to fresh records.

Companies have a “strong legal case” to avert the strike, the Minerals Council South Africa said. The lobby group estimates producers could lose 1.3 t of PGM production, equal to more than R500-million ($36-million), for each day that workers don’t show up.

Output losses will depend on the number of workers who down tools, Impala Platinum Holdings’s spokesperson said. Sibanye has made preparations for the strike and doesn’t expect production to be significantly impacted, spokesperson James Wellsted said.

“In the event of a strike proceeding, it would not be the case that work could restart immediately,” the council said. “A strike is always disruptive for longer than the period of the actual strike.”

Edited by Bloomberg

Comments

The content you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

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?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION