Talks between world number-five gold miner Harmony and the group’s unions, including the National Union of Mineworkers, regarding the closure of shafts has reached a deadlock, the NUM said in a statement on Wednesday.
The parties have failed to make any significant progress since the agreement of a framework in May.
“The NUM, together with other unions, has declared a dispute with Harmony. We will now seek a third-party facilitation. Clearly, Harmony is not interested in saving jobs, but wishes to wait out the situation by mothballing shafts, until the price of gold improves.
“Their emphasis is more on cost-cutting and efficiency improvement instead of the saving of jobs as contained in the framework established between the unions and Harmony,” NUM general secretary Gwede Mantashe said.
A letter of notice regarding the declaration of dispute has already been sent to the company and copies have been made available to the other unions.
The process, since the earlier meetings, has been slow and marred by obstacles on the part of the management that seemed reluctant to implement the framework agreement.
At this point the union will wait for a dispute resolution date from the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration. — I-Net Bridge