Deputy President Motlanthe downplayed the existence of a long list of demands by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), which was being touted by some of the parties present at the signing of a framework agreement for a sustainable mining industry as the reason for an Amcu walkout.
“There are no preconditions,” Motlanthe told journalists at the presidential guest house in Pretoria on Wednesday. “Amcu said they have nothing against the framework because it includes the input of Amcu and others. It is their document as much as it is the others. They just said they wanted time to go back to their members.”
However, Amcu’s list of demands is understood to include the reinstatement of about 1 000 Glencore Xstrata workers who downed tools after an alleged racist incident; the retraction of a statement by Blade Nzimande in which he called Amcu a vigilante union; and the dropping of a labour court case by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in which it seeks a reversal of Lonmin’s decision to recognise Amcu as the majority union.
Last week, NUM general secretary Frans Baleni said he believed that between 50% and 70% of the 13 000 stop orders processed by Lonmin were fraudulent. “There is a view that Amcu’s application for recognition lacked veracity due to inconsistencies of various forms,” Baleni told the Business Day. The application is expected to be heard on July 10, less than a week before the NUM’s deadline to vacate offices in Lonmin.
According to sources present at the signing, Amcu is understood to have said that the environment (in reference to the labour court case) was not conducive to the signing of a framework agreement.
Signs that Amcu threw a spanner in the works were present not least in the wording of the prewritten press statement, which states, without qualification, that “government, organised labour and business … signed the framework agreement”.
'Facing more trouble'
However there was also a sense that parties were eager to forge ahead, with or without Amcu’s signature, as an attendee of the plenary session stated that Motlanthe spoke of the process as a “marathon” where there was still an “opportunity for Amcu to join”.
But optimism about the process was not omnipresent. “If Amcu refuses to sign then we are just moving through the eye of the storm, and we’ll be facing more trouble in the strike season,” said Solidarity’s Gideon du Plessis.
“This was an opportunity to use this forum to fix other workplace issues but they [Amcu] didn’t … But this is also the court of public opinion and this is one of the battles they are losing. They have capacity issues. They have a few good leaders, but they are stretched and unprepared and this is a sign of that. They came with a long list of preconditions; preconditions that are impossible to meet.”
This draft framework follows on the heels of an initial one signed on February 25 and covers broader ground to include labour relations issues, the rule of law and steps to deal with unscrupulous micro lenders.