JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Local coal producers and labour unions have agreed that the 2017 coal sector wage negotiations will take place centrally under the auspices of the Chamber of Mines (CoM).
Gathering at the CoM on Friday, coal producers Anglo Coal, Delmas Coal, Exxaro Coal Mpumalanga, Kangra Coal, Koornfontein Mines and Glencore levelled with labour unions, including the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), Uasa and Solidarity, regarding the future structure and form of wage negotiations in the coal sector, amid threats of a strike owing to disagreements.
The parties have also agreed to conclude a framework agreement that will govern the wage negotiations process. At the same time, company-level recognition agreements will be concluded, with labour unions expected to submit wage demands during this week.
Further, the parties agreed to engage about the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration’s recommendations, issued earlier this year, that wage talks be centralised for another year. This suggestion had been rejected by the CoM, which represents the country’s coal producers.
The miners announced in February that they had decided to decentralise wage negotiations – enabling each mine to conclude their own wage increases – but this had been rejected by the labour unions, causing a sector deadlock that threatened to result in a strike.