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Sibanye-Stillwater has urgently appealed to unions to seriously reconsider its wage offer in a bid to avoid a strike at the company’s gold operations.
“We do truly hope that lessons will be learnt from the past, and that we can reach a reasonable agreement that will not jeopardise our future. We continue to appeal to our unions and to our employees, to continue engaging with us to consider our offer to avoid embarking on a strike,” said Richard Stewart, Sibanye-Stillwater chief operating officer.
Sibanye’s offer is an increase of R480 in year one, R570 in year two, and R600 in year three for certain categories of surface and underground workers, while miners, artisans and officials are offered an increase of 4,1 percent in year one, 4,7 percent in year two, and 4,7 percent in year three.
While labour has described the offer as an insult, Sibanye maintains it is a good offer, which will add R1,2 billion to its wage bill over three years, but will ensure the sustainability of the operations for years to come.
Stewart said Sibanye was disappointed that talks have not reached a conclusion as unions have failed to budge on wage demands that would add R2,5 billion to the company’s wage bill in the next three years. This, Stewart said, is not sustainable and has no correlation with inflation. – fin24
Online Reporter