Ed Stoddard and Sherilee Lakmidas
The bloody first round of South Africa’s mine union turf war is over and the clear winner on the platinum belt is the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu).
From this position of strength, Amcu is signalling a radical departure from tactics used last year, when it poached tens of thousands of disgruntled members from the once-dominant National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in a recruitment drive that triggered lethal violence and shut major mines for months.
Amcu has a well-earned reputation for militancy and its explosion onto the South African labour scene last year often appeared anarchic, marked by riots and illegal strikes that lasted for weeks.
The violence that resulted included the killing of 34 striking miners by police near the Marikana mine run by platinum producer Lonmin on August 16 last year.
Amcu’s 2013 model looks very different: with most unionised workers in the platinum belt now flying its colours, it is displaying remarkable discipline, orchestrating brief mine closures to show its displeasure at management moves.
The message is ominous for investors and boardrooms in South Africa, especially as the mid-year start of wage talks across most of the mining sector draws near.
The big platinum producers such as Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) and Impala Platinum face a vastly different labour landscape than they did two years ago.
Amcu’s message is: “We are in control and can stop and restart your operations at the drop of a hat. Just provoke us.”
In January, Amcu activists said they would shut down shafts if Amplats announced job cuts in a long-awaited plan to restore profits.
Both sides acted exactly as they said they would.
Amplats said it planned to mothball two mines, sell another and slash up to 14 000 jobs as its margins sank into the red, posting its first loss last year.
The night of the announcement, workers at Amplats’ operations around Rustenburg downed tools – just for a day, but the message had been crystal clear.
Last week Lonmin hosted a media tour in a bid to show, among other things, how it had put last year’s crippling labour unrest behind it.
Amcu was having none of it. It staged a one-day unprotected strike last Tuesday at Marikana shafts, saying it wanted the closure of rival union NUM’s offices there, because it was now the biggest kid on the block.
Visiting journalists were diverted to another shaft. The strike ended the next day – after the journalists had left.
The so-called platinum belt remains a flashpoint of social and labour tension after it was the scene of riots last year and widespread intimidation by Amcu as it recruited workers angered at the NUM leadership, which they see as out of touch with the rank and file and too close to the ruling ANC.
Relentless poverty in the shantytowns around the platinum mines remains a source of simmering fury.
Amcu shift boss Phahla Mekela said last Tuesday that the union’s aim was to make a real difference to the lives of its members.
“Amcu is doing well since the strike [last year]. We realise that we can’t always say things to management but what we can do is act,” he said, alluding to the union’s new-found ability to mobilise members at a moment’s notice.
NUM managed for years to get above-inflation wage rises for its members but did not push for increases that the companies could not afford. Amcu members see the world differently, through a red political lens that contrasts with the pragmatic stance taken by the NUM.
The problem for Amcu, now that the union has tens of thousands of new members, is that rank and file expectations have been raised.
If Amcu finds it cannot deliver on its promises, its tactics could change. Or it could lose control of members.
Neither scenario will be good for the companies, production or the wider economy. – Reuters