Local miners lose jobs over union disputes

As the festive season closes and slowly opens into the hustle and bustle of going back to work and preparing for opening schools, employees at Gold One Mine have lost their jobs.

The 401 miner workers were part of the ongoing battle of the unions between the mine’s representing union, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), and its competitor, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU).

Mine workers, many of whom are breadwinners, received this news through an SMS, notifying them of their dismissals.

On Monday morning, these mineworkers approached Gold One’s management, demanding dismissal letters.

The SMS received by the workers reads: “Gold One individual SMS: Kindly note that your medical exit is scheduled for January 9 at Boksburg. Transport is available in the morning at 06:30 at Gold One security. Bring your one-month bank statement for the provident fund claim.”

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The dismissals are the alleged aftermath of two sit-ins conducted at the Modder East Shaft to challenge the leading union of the mine late last year.

In their demands, AMCU reported having a majority of members compared with NUM, which is currently the union representing the miners’ rights at the mine.

AMCU demands an opportunity to represent the miners as they have majority memberships as of March 2023.

The union then demanded a ballot count to further prove their claim to represent the miners. The first steps taken by the mine following the first sit-in had been to suspend 15 accused workers in November.

NUM and the mine deemed both sit-ins as hostage situations, whereas AMCU labelled it as a voluntary sit-in.

Talks between the mine and union representatives have since proven unsuccessful. The head of legal for Gold One Mine, Ziyaad Hassaam, could not be reached for comment at the time of publication.

This is a developing story.

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