Johannesburg - At a time when the mining industry was facing a myriad of challenges, Sibanye Gold chief executive Neal Froneman said yesterday that employees were reluctant to embark on a strike.
Whether this is true or not has yet to be seen.
He said there was no appetite for a wage strike among employees amid embattled mining companies announcing widespread restructuring that would lead to the shedding of thousands of jobs.
Sibanye, which was spun off from Gold Fields’ ageing South African operations in 2013, has seen its JSE-listed shares decline by 36 percent compared with this time last year, in tandem with the drop in the gold price.
Mining houses have been hit by a double whammy of low demand from China and rapidly declining commodity prices with increasing labour and power costs adding to the pressure.
“From interactions with employees, I sensed there is no real appetite for a strike. Of course they want to earn more, but the feeling is that they want to find solutions without a strike. I think a strike is unlikely,” Froneman said.
He added that gold mining companies had spent six weeks sharing information about the economic situation in the industry.
“I think unions are receptive to the economic landscape; I don’t think they will go on a strike,” he said, adding that the industry had put firm offers on the table.
Tony Healy of labour relations consultancy Tony Healy & Associates noted that there was a degree of strike fatigue in the mining industry, but cautioned players from concluding that industrial action was unlikely. “One must be cautious when interpreting what workers say to management. More often they tell management what it wants to hear rather than their real sentiment,” he said.
Froneman’s comments come as the Chamber of Mines yesterday tabled a final offer that it said would ensure the guaranteed pay of entry-level employees would reach R12 800 and R13 200 a month in the third year of the agreement.
The gold wage negotiation continues. The gold price last week touched $1 077.40 (R13 515) an ounce, the lowest price in more than five-years.
The chamber is negotiating on behalf of AngloGold Ashanti, Pan African Resources’ Evander Gold Mines, Harmony Gold, Sibanye Gold and Village Main Reef.
Village on Monday signed a two-year wage deal that would see the salaries of entry-level workers increase by between R1 000 and R800 a month, while monthly salaries of miners, artisans and officials would grow by between 5.5 percent and 6.5 percent.
The low level of the gold price prompted international global ratings firm Moody’s to warn this week that the decline was credit negative for AngloGold Ashanti and Gold Fields because it would lower their revenues.
The Moody’s report said these companies would need time to adjust their operations to the lower price level.
Last Friday Lonmin, the third largest platinum producer, said it planned to axe 6 000 workers this year. Anglo American also said it would shed 6 000 jobs by the end of the year, as part of a plan to retrench 54 000 employees at its global operations by the end of 2018.
Froneman said stakeholders needed to take a long-term view of the industry.
He believed that consolidation of the mining industry was necessary. “Consolidation is a solution and it is inevitable if we want to do the right thing.”
He said Sibanye remained confident about the industry and that the mining industry would find a solution to South Africa’s problems.
BUSINESS REPORT