RUSTENBURG – The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) has threatened to shut down all mining houses represented in the Minerals Council of SA, if its demands are not met by Thursday.
Union members marched to the Mineral Council of SA on Tuesday to hand over a list of demands and union boss Joseph Mathunjwa called on the mining council to intervene in the situation.
“We demand that the Minerals Council plays a facilitatory role to ensure that Sibanye-Stillwater departs from their hard-headed stance – for the sake of the mining sector and for the sake of the country.
“We hereby give you forty-eight hours to respond to our demands, failing which we shall intensify our campaign of secondary strikes at the mining houses
represented in the Minerals Council,” Mathunjwa said in a memorandum.
“We are marching in solidarity with our comrades who have been on protected industrial action at the gold operations of Sibanye-Stillwater at Beatrix, Kloof and Driefontein.
"We have marched here, not only as members of Sibanye-Stillwater at the gold operations, but also as members from the platinum operations in Rustenburg.“
Amcu members at Sibanye-Stillwater at Beatrix in the Free State, Kloof and Driefontein in Gauteng have been on strike since November.
The union, known for waging a five-month-long strike in the platinum mines in Rustenburg during 2014, have launched a secondary strike in the platinum mines in Rustenburg in a push for Sibanye to accede to its R1 000 hike a year over three years at its gold operations in Gauteng and the Free State.
The union lamented that there were mineworkers who were still paid R7 000 per month.
“Who can live on R7 000 per month? Who can put food on the table for their family. Who can clothe their loved ones? Who can afford to rent, let alone buy, a decent property with what’s left? Nobody can, and nobody should,” Mathunjwa said.
He said the parties were currently a mere R300 apart for year one of a three-year agreement, with Amcu sticking to its demand of a R1 000 increase per year and Sibanye-Stillwater digging in its heels on R700 for years one and two.