/ 15 July 2013

Implats says NUM has ‘some way to go’ before regaining recognition

Higher costs and wage demands at major platinum mines could see operations cut back and thousands of jobs subsequently lost.
Higher costs and wage demands at major platinum mines could see operations cut back and thousands of jobs subsequently lost.

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), which used to speak for the most employees at Impala Platinum, has “some way to go” before regaining recognition at the second-biggest producer, the company said.

The NUM represents 7% of the workforce, while 30% is needed for organisational rights at Impala, Johan Theron, the company’s Johannesburg-based human-resources executive, said in an e-mail response to questions.

The NUM fell below the previous requirement of 50% in March 2012 and legally lost recognition in February this year, he said.

The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) has unseated the NUM as the dominant representative at the three biggest platinum producers in South Africa, which has the largest known reserves of the metal.

Union rivalry has contributed to some of the worst labour violence the country has witnessed since the end of apartheid in 1994.

“Whilst they were the legally recognised as the majority, they were not amenable to allowing Amcu access or rights,” Theron said of the NUM. Equally, the Amcu, which on July 10 signed a recognition pact that shows it speaks for “a little more than 50%” of Impala workers, isn’t supportive of lowering the required threshold, he said.

In August, police killed 34 protesters at Lonmin's Marikana platinum mine in Rustenburg during a strike that formed part of a wave of labour disruptions for the industry.

The long period taken to strip the NUM of its recognition rights was caused by the violence and intimidation before and after the Marikana, Theron said. – Bloomberg