Mining group Aflease Gold and Uranium Resources on Monday announced that the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has begun a strike at the Bonanza South gold mine near Klerksdorp, along with an illegal underground sit-in.
NUM Klerksdorp representative Hoyce Pundulu confirmed that the union’s members are on strike at the Bonanza South gold mine. However, he said the strike is legal, with the union demanding a wage increase of 15% and the company offering 6,5%.
The union is demanding a minimum underground wage of R2 000 a month and a minimum surface wage of R1 900 a month, while the company is offering an underground wage of R1 500 a month and R1 300 a month for surface workers, he added.
Aflease said it had offered a three-year wage agreement.
The increase for the current year would have been an effective 10% — more than the inflation rate of 3,5% — back-dated to June 1 2005.
“This would have been followed by a 7% increase next year and an increase of 7,23% in the third year,” Aflease said.
The NUM is also demanding the company make a provident-fund contribution and pay a living-out allowance of R500 a month, Pundulu said.
Aflease chief executive Neal Froneman put the number of striking workers at about 400, while Pundulu said the number of NUM members striking is 2 000.
Froneman said that in the short term the strike will have very little impact on production.
Bonanza South mine is serving as a pilot project as Aflease prepares to start mining uranium at its nearby Dominion Reefs mine, which is expected to begin producing uranium in the first quarter of 2007.
“Substantial efforts had been made in recent weeks to avert the strike, with the matter having most recently gone before the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration [CCMA],” Aflease said.
In addition, management agreed to investigate jointly the setting up of a provident fund, into which employees could contribute on a voluntary basis, the company added.
“Following the NUM’s refusal to accept this offer, and request for a certificate from the CCMA to enable a strike to be mounted, Aflease was left with no other option than to withdraw this offer,” Aflease said.
The company has informed its workers that it will implement the no-work, no-pay principle for the duration of any strike, it added.
“Management remains available for negotiation, and is eager to resolve the dispute as soon as possible,” Aflease said.
“This strike is most unfortunate as we have begun to ramp up production at Bonanza South, a mine which poured its first gold only at the end of June, after the company had been out of production since the beginning of 2004,” Froneman said in a statement.
“During the initial months, as forecast, the operation is not yet turning a profit, and we have sought to impress on the union that this is a very sensitive phase of the project,” he added.
“We accept that we have a duty to look after our workforce, and we have already made a generous offer. However, we also have a duty to our shareholders to protect the Bonanza South mine against the impact of unwarranted wage inflation,” Froneman said.
“We deeply regret this strike, but it would be wrong to suggest to our workforce that we have deep pockets, and that the strike can or will result in anything other than a threat to their future employment,” he said. — I-Net Bridge