Battle for control of workforce

Striking miners gather in Johannesburg to hear an update from Amcu president Joseph Mathunjwa on March 27, 2014. File picture: Reuters

Striking miners gather in Johannesburg to hear an update from Amcu president Joseph Mathunjwa on March 27, 2014. File picture: Reuters

Published May 5, 2014

Share

Johannesburg - A battle of wits has broken out between the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) and platinum companies over the control of a workforce said to be divided over continuing the three-month strike.

Impala Platinum (Implats) prompted Amcu to seek a fresh strategy for capturing the loyalty of striking miners when it declared last week that over two-thirds of its workforce had indicated a commitment to return to work.

“The situation is that the strength between the employers and Amcu is now 50-50. We need strategies that will make the company see how to find the money that our members are demanding,” Evans Ramogka, an Amcu shop steward, said.

Amcu has been on the back foot since platinum producers started talking directly to striking employees in an attempt to get them to consider the latest revised wage offer.

Implats, Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) and Lonmin have put in place mechanisms for employees to accept the offer individually.

Lonmin and Implats have reached out to employees through SMS, radio and print campaigns.

Lonmin gave its striking employees until Thursday to accept its latest wage offer and said they needed to be back to work by May 14, a company spokesperson said on Friday.

Amplats has held mass meetings in Rustenburg, and human resource managers are in the Eastern Cape to meet striking employees. It also plans to reach employees in neighbouring countries.

The companies said in a statement last week they would not release information on the progress made in contacting the employees. By Friday they were reported to be compiling data of the commitments made by workers after their direct approach through SMSes and appeals at their villages.

A risk assessment on safety will be conducted before employees can return to work.

Amcu president Joseph Mathunjwa told Bloomberg: “The only solution in this thing is for companies to come to the table and talk about how we can reach R12 500 in four years. There is no other way.”

Mathunjwa said the companies had been communicating directly with employees for months, “but you don’t see any people coming back”.

The union plans a press conference today with update on the strike.

Lonmin chief executive Ben Magara said he was surprised by the length of the platinum strike and by the unwillingness of his old acquaintance, Mathunjwa, to accept “economic realities”.

Magara told Bloomberg: “I thought I knew him very well and I thought this would not go this far.”

Amcu members rejected the revised wage offer at mass meetings held last month.

Andrew Levy, the head of Andrew Levy Employment, said that once employees had shown willingness to return to work, the next step was for the employers to ensure it was safe to do so.

“Employers can get court orders to prevent intimidation. However, employees have previously ignored court orders in Rustenburg,” said Levy.

Implats, whose Rustenburg operations have been closed by the strike, will use feedback on the settlement to decide when and how it is best to reopen the mine safely.

“Early indications from people we have engaged so far is that more than two-thirds are willing to return to work,” Implats spokesman Johan Theron said on Friday.

“However, it is not conclusive as many more employees still need to be contacted and respond – it is becoming more difficult to reach employees on SMS as they are running out of airtime,” Theron added.

Ramogka said there was no proof that employees wanted to return to work.

Sue Vey, Lonmin spokeswoman, said the company still could not say how much of its workforce had indicated they wanted to return to the job. – Additional reporting by Bloomberg

Related Topics: