The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) on Tuesday declared a wage dispute with the Minerals Council South Africa (MCSA), which is representing gold producers in wage talks with unions in the sector, after the MCSA on Tuesday presented a conditional revised offer.
The MCSA said that gold producers had, in an effort to reach common ground, tabled a conditional offer for three years.
"The conditional offer is aimed at improving employee wages and benefits and is conditional on the removal of a number of high-cost demands," it stated.
For the first year, the conditional offers made by the companies range between 6.2% and 8.2% for category four underground employees and between 4% and 5% for miners and artisans and officials.
The MCSA said key benefits on which concessions have been made on nonwage demands include an extension of the companies' medical contribution for category four to eight employees to 60%; an increase in the minimum medical incapacity benefit to R60 000 over a three-year period; and an increase in the minimum severance pay to R36 000 over a three-year period.
Further, the producers have agreed to engage, at company level, with the Igula Provident Fund, or any other fund, as an additional retirement fund option, conditional on compliance by these funds with all applicable legislation, and the interests of all employees.
They have also agreed to introduce a 0.5% service increment a year for officials from July 1, 2019 at some companies.
The NUM's dispute will be referred to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) for facilitation and is one step away from a legal, protected strike action, the union stated.
"It is a sad day in South Africa. Gold producers have not shown any seriousness. It is time now that we stop keeping our members in suspense. We have reached a deadlock. It is the end of the road. We have declared a dispute and the dispute will be referred to the CCMA tomorrow," said NUM general secretary and chief negotiator David Sipunzi.
Trade union Solidarity, meanwhile, said in a separate statement that the conditional revised offer was “an insult to skilled employees”.
“Although the offers are conditional, Solidarity rejects the offer in principle because of its discriminatory nature. The artisans and more senior employees cannot accept that they are to receive smaller salary increases in order to subsidise other post levels’ increases,” Solidarity general secretary Gideon du Plessis said.
However, he pointed out that Solidarity welcomes the offers for the category four to eight employees, but that the lower offer to the skilled employees is a practice from the past to close the wage gap between the categories.
“The gap is now so small that the categories’ remuneration packages are very close to each other,” he said.
Solidarity will continue to negotiate with the MCSA.
Solidarity, Uasa and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union and the MCSA will continue with talks on Wednesday.