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Num accepts wage offer and Amcu goes on strike

Yesterday, we reported that the National Union of Mineworkers (Num) accepted a wage offer made by Northam Platinum. However, yesterday workers affiliated to the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) decided to go on strike. This doesn’t bode well for workers’ back pockets.

According to the Chamber of Mines, in 2012 the mining industry in South Africa was responsible for creating approximately 1.3 million jobs and the platinum-producing sector was responsible for nearly 300 000 of these - which is more than coal and gold mining put together.

In labour law, there is a rule states if a worker goes on strike – which is his constitutional right to do – the employer isn’t obliged to pay him: “no work, no pay.” So, for however long Amcu and the employers of the striking workers (Anglo Plats, Impala Plats and Lonmin) take to negotiate, the workers will be on strike and consequently won’t be getting paid. And when you consider that strikes in the past have lasted up to three weeks, depending on the stubbornness of each of the parties around the negotiating table, workers could end up losing a lot of money.

When Amcu and mines settle their differences, and strikers finally make their way back to work, the disastrous effects of the strike could continue to be felt although an agreement on wages would have been reached. Labour law expert, Ivan Israelstam, says a strike can result in feelings of hostility that ultimately damage, for example, teamwork and productivity.

Lia Marus is the editor of HR Pulse. She has a BA in French, Italian and Linguistics from UCT, an MA in translation from Wits and a Postgraduate Diploma in Management from the Wits Business School. She is currently studying towards her LLB through Unisa. Lia started her career off in corporate communications, where she worked as a sub-editor, researcher and marketing coordinator. She then heeded the call of the publishing world and went into the business-to-business publishing field. She worked as a sub-editor as well as a chief sub-editor. Before joining ITWeb, she managed an HR guidebook at a leading international publishing company.