Labour Court strikes off Amcu’s SMS challenge

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Published Jun 3, 2014

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Johannesburg - Platinum houses affected by the protracted strike can and will continue sending text messages on their latest offer to employees who are union members.

A bid to stop the process by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) was struck off the roll yesterday. Labour Court Judge Robert Le Grange did not consider the merits of the union’s case due to lack of urgency and dismissed it with costs yesterday.

Speaking on the sidelines of the court case, Jayson Kent, an attorney for Amcu, said that he would meet with Amcu and consider options, adding that no decision had been made yet.

“We were hoping for a different outcome. It is difficult to lose. We had concerns about urgency. It is not a full surprise,”Kent said.

Amcu has labelled the SMS campaign as being an attempt to divide its members and undermine Amcu’s recognition agreement as the majority union in the platinum sector.

The platinum companies welcomed the ruling yesterday and said that any means of communicating with employees should be utilised.

“The companies have been inundated by calls from employees seeking information, and will now continue to communicate with employees on a regular basis,” the statement read.

The strike, now in its fifth month, has been stained by violence and intimidation. Five people were killed in separate incidents last month. The strike has cost employers about R20.6 billion in production, and employees have foregone earnings of about R9.2bn.

The firms have said feedback from the majority of employees was that they preferred to accept the offer and to return to work, and many feared intimidation.

In court papers, Impala Platinum claimed that 10 397 employees were surveyed and 67 percent of them considered the wage offer fair. Of the 8 214 employees who answered the question about returning to work, 85 percent said they wanted to do so.

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