The National Union of Miners in South Africa has taken a dim view of a wage deal signed between Anglo American Platinum and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), which broke away from the Congress of South African Trade Unions in 1998.
In a statement, the NUM says it “took a conscious and deliberate decision not to sign the wage agreement with Anglo American Platinum because it does not benefit the mineworkers in the platinum belt. The NUM believes that even in the current signed 3-year wage agreement the underground workers would still have not achieved the R12,500 [$920 US] wage increase; instead, they will only get R11,500.
“The R12,500 wage increase should have been achieved way back in 2012 by those who were campaigning for it. They are still lying to the poor mineworkers, It has still not been achieved. The NUM believes that mineworkers deserve better salaries and benefits, but not lies.” said William Mabapa, NUM Deputy General Secretary. “The entire wage agreement is a big loss to poor mineworkers who are being made to believe they have achieved a lot. The benefits arecalculated from a lower base below their basic salaries and that is where the problem is. Workers are highly ripped off in this agreement.”
The NUM also says the deal violates an agreement signed by several unions in the industry to conduct joint collective bargaining on substantive issues.