Johannesburg - Amcu members at Impala Platinum's mines in Rustenburg are eager to go on strike, union president Joseph Mathunjwa said on Monday.
“Our members reaffirmed the mandate to go on strike. They rejected the eight percent offered,” he said.
The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union would indicate next week if it intended serving a 48-hour notice of a strike on the employers.
Amcu was given a certificate of non-resolution at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration after wage negotiations deadlocked. The union demanded an entry-level monthly salary of R12 500.
Mathunjwa said his union remained dominant at Impala, Anglo American Platinum, and Lonmin.
“There is no exodus of members. The union is still intact. Reports that members are not happy are malicious,” he said.
He was referring to media reports that members were leaving Amcu because they were unhappy with the leadership.
Amcu is expected to meet its members at Amplats and Lonmin this week.
The union dethroned the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) as a dominant union in the platinum mining belt following a violent strike at Lonmin's mines in Marikana in 2012. Forty-four people were killed during the strike. Thirty-four were killed on August 16, 2012 when police opened fire on them. Ten people, including two policemen and two security guards, were killed in the preceding week.
President Jacob Zuma appointed retired judge Ian Farlam to chair a commission to probe the killings. The commission is holding public hearing in Centurion, Pretoria and is expected to complete its work by April 30. - Sapa