JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) - JSE- and NYSE-listed Sibanye-Stillwater CEO Neal Froneman has said the company is “much closer” to reaching a reasonable settlement with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), Solidarity and Uasa in respect of wages and conditions of service for employees for the period from July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2021.
“On the ground, we are much closer to a reasonable settlement with our regions and our own employees. We think we’ve made good advances and we are in no rush to settle unless it is a settlement that is fair to our employees, our shareholders and to other stakeholders,” he highlighted.
Froneman on Thursday, during a conference call, added that a proposed wage agreement – to which the unions, AngloGold Ashanti and Harmony Gold have agreed – is unsustainable in the long run.
He explained that Sibanye-Stillwater believes any wage agreement must “reflect the inflationary environment”.
The precious metals miner, meanwhile, believes a wage settlement will be agreed upon that “will be more appropriate”.
Unions and some of South Africa’s gold miners have agreed to a three-year deal, concluded under the auspices of the Minerals Council South Africa, that would allow for increases to the basic wage of Category 4 to 8 employees of R575 in each of the next three years.
Miners, artisans and officials will receive increases of 4.25% in the first year of the agreement and increases equal to the consumer price index in each of the following two years.
For underground entry-level employees, a 7% increase has been agreed for the first year.