The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and diamond mining giant De Beers have reached an agreement on wage increases and employment conditions.
This follows weeks of unsuccessful negotiations between the two parties.
NUM chief negotiator Peter Bailey said on Saturday that although the deal was not what the union initailly wanted, it was ”comfortable” with it ”for now”.
The agreement includes an eight percent wage increase backdated to May 1. It sets the new minimum wage at R3 348 per month.
”We also agreed with De Beers that a task team should be set up to look into other issues such as the establishment of a funeral cover that will give members a minimum of R10 000 should a family member pass away.
”The team will also look into the best practice in the diamond industry regarding an across the board allowance for everyone working on continuous operations. This allowance will also be backdated to May 1.”
Initially the union demanded a 10% wage increase while De Beers offered an increase of 7,5% for the lowest paid employees, and seven percent for the rest.
De Beers negotiator Wayne Smerdon said despite ”difficult negotiations and the significant impact of external factors” the settlement met the needs of the company and the union. – Sapa