Celani Sikhakhane
The refusal of Sibanye-Stillwater to increase salaries of its mine workers by R1,000 has cost the mine an opportunity to take advantage of the booming world gold and platinum prices.
On Tuesday talks between workers unions and the employer came to a standstill as the parties failed to reach an agreement.
According to Business Live, the strike already cost workers R1 billion in wages as it entered its 10th week on Wednesday.
Workers demand an increase of R1,000 per month for three years.
The company is offering R850 per month and it claims that it can’t afford to meet the demand because it is four points more than the average inflation rate forecast by the South African Reserve Bank.
Workers claim that this increase is nothing compared to the salary of the Sibanye-Stillwater CEO Neal Fronman who earned a R300 million salary last year.
Association of Mine Workers and Construction Union (Amcu) General Secretary Jeff Mphahlele said there was no common ground reached during the meeting.
Their rival union, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is also unhappy about their talks on Tuesday.
Its General Secretary William Mabapa said that they are still negotiating for a R1,000 a month increase for three years.
The company said their gold operations will only resume once workers decide to report to work.
Gold production makes about 7% of Sibanye-Stillwater’s profits.
