The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) on Monday slammed world number four gold mining group Gold Fields for its statements last week that previous wage agreements in the gold-mining industry had been too high.
Last week the gold miner also accused South Africa’s other gold-mining companies of risking the sector’s future by giving into trade-union demands for above-inflation increases.
Gold Fields was often the mining house that brought the gold-mining industry to the brink of a strike during wage negotiations, the NUM said in a statement.
The company is set to propose a new formula to its employees this week, in terms of which any increases above inflation would have to be earned through productivity and incentives.
The NUM also attacked Gold Fields for suggesting that the group would negotiate one-on-one with the union rather than through the Chamber of Mines and the industry bargaining council. — I-Net Bridge