Amcu announces wage deal offer at Amplats as Sibanye-Stillwater strike drags on

The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) has announced that it has reached a new five-year wage deal with Anglo American Platinum.

Amcu’s general secretary Jeff Mphahlele on Tuesday said the deal with the platinum miner could be signed as early as this week and would be effective from July.

Amplats agreed “in principle” to give its workers a monthly increase of R1,100 in the first year of the deal, rising to R1,500 in the fifth year.

“The agreement has been reached in principle and we are about to sign the offer with Anglo. We are just dealing with the final wording of the agreement itself,” Mphahlele said.

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While Amcu has been able to have smooth wage negotiations with Amplats, the union’s strike action at the gold miner, Sibanye-Stillwater, continues to drag on.

Members of Amcu and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) have been striking over salary increases at Sibanye-Stillwater for almost three months now.

Workers are demanding R1,000 for the surface and underground workers and 6% for the artisan miners and officials. Sibanye-Stillwater is only offering R850 each year for three years.

Calls for Ramaphosa to intervene

On Tuesday, striking Amcu and NUM members camped outside the Union Buildings in Pretoria calling for President Cyril Ramaphosa to intervene to end the protracted strike.

Most of the workers have been camping outside Union Buildings since last week, but they had not received an audience from officials of the Presidency.

NUM spokesperson Livhuwani Mammburu said workers were not backing down on their call for Ramaphosa to address them or to intervene to end the strike.

“As unions, we are going to push hard to make sure that the president of the country intervenes in this current strike.

“The workers are really bagging him to address them so that the strike at Sibanye-Stillwater comes to an end. They want stability and their gathering here is peaceful and there is no violence,” Mammburu told SABC News.

Compiled by Thapelo Lekabe

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