/ 10 October 2013

Amcu to present compromise on jobs to striking members

Amcu To Present Compromise On Jobs To Striking Members

The largest union at Anglo American Platinum will present revised job-cut proposals it agreed with the company to workers who have been on strike at the world’s biggest producer of the metal since September 27.

“It will be for the members to decide if they’ll go back to work,” Joseph Mathunjwa, president of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), said by phone.

Amcu members will meet on Thursday at a stadium in Rustenburg, 130km north-west of Johannesburg, to hear the proposals, reached after two days of talks between the union and Amplats officials, he said.

Amcu is challenging a decision by the platinum producer set out in August to consolidate five mines into three at its Rustenburg complex to curb costs, resulting in about 3 300 job cuts. The mines are losing more than R1-billion every six months, chief executive Chris Griffith said on July 22.

Amplats spokesperson Mpumi Sithole wasn’t immediately available when contacted by phone.

Among the points of contention for the union is Amplats’s use of outside contractors, instead of giving this work to employees who are losing their jobs, Mathunjwa said October 7.

Amplats, which accounts for as much as 40% of global production, has said it is losing 3 100 ounces a day of platinum-group metals output because of the strike. – Bloomberg