JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The negotiations between trade unions and South Africa’s gold mining companies, led by the Chamber of Mines, to determine the wages and other conditions of workers in the gold industry from July 1 started on Monday.
Gold companies AngloGold Ashanti, Evander Gold Mines, Harmony, Sibanye Gold and Village Main Reef and trade unions the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, the National Union of Mineworkers, Solidarity and Uasa gathered in Boksburg to start the first round of three-day discussions.
The centralised collective bargaining forum, aimed at determining a replacement for the current wage agreement, which expired at the end of this month, would reconvene again on June 29, with any further meetings to be determined at a later date.
“We have the opportunity to collectively shape the industry’s future through a process of transparent information-sharing and working together to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes,” said Harmony CEO Graham Briggs, who, on behalf of the gold companies, added that the viability and sustainability of the gold industry and the jobs it provided needed to remain at the centre of the discussions.
The companies collectively directly employed 94 000 people in the three bargaining units, namely category 4 to 8 employees, miners and artisans and officials.
Around 150 employer and employee representatives were expected to participate in the negotiations.