NUM to demand gold wage hikes of 75%, say union sources
- Published on 24 Apr 2015
- HR Pulse News Desk
It is said that the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is planning to submit demands to the gold sector next week calling for a 75% hike in the basic pay for entry-level workers.
"For the basic wage at the entry level, we are planning to demand a raise to R10,000 a month in the first year from R5,700 at present," said one (unnamed) NUM source. This was confirmed by a second source in the union. That would set the stage for tough negotiations and a potentially protracted dispute with companies in the gold sector. The sources did not disclose the demands in the sectors outside of gold such as coal.
The NUM, which represents 57% of the workforce in the gold sector, said in March it might ask for increases of up to 100% in the gold, coal and diamond sectors, but was still finalising its demands. The latest NUM wage demand plans would not affect Gold Fields, as the union signed a three-year deal with the company two weeks ago for a 21% increase for the lowest-paid workers to R7,000. But the NUM has upcoming talks with AngloGold Ashanti, Harmony Gold and Sibanye Gold, whose two-year wage agreements with the union expire in June.
The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), which is striving to make inroads in the gold sector and led a five-month strike last year in the platinum sector, is expected to submit its own gold wage demands next month.
