/ 4 July 2005

NUM, Anglo Platinum wage talks deadlock

Wage talks between the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and world number one platinum miner Anglo Platinum have deadlocked and the NUM has issued the group with a letter of dispute, NUM Deputy general secretary Archie Palane said on Monday.

The two parties will now go through a 14-calendar day dispute resolution process and if they do not resolve the matter, the dispute will be referred to the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) for conciliation, he added.

AngloPlat is currently offering the unions a wage increase of CPIX, consumer inflation less mortgage costs, which equates to 3,9%.

The group also proposed that two parties enter into a long-term agreement using CPIX as the benchmark and also including a gain share portion. However, this was rejected by the NUM, Palane said.

AngloPlat spokesperson Trevor Raymond said that the group would not comment

on wage negotiations while they were taking place. – I-Net Bridge