Sibanye says more workers report for duty
Sibanye-Stillwater said on Monday that attendance at its operations has improved relative to last week. Picture: Nhlanhla Phillips/African News Agency (ANA)
JOHANNESBURG – Sibanye-Stillwater said on Monday that attendance at its operations has improved relative to last week, but remains low, as a result of the ongoing strike action by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) at its South African gold operations.
“The situation remained relatively stable over the weekend, with visible intimidation limited to the Beatrix operations in the Free State. Management is pleased to report that no significant violence was reported over the weekend,” Sibanye said in a statement.
“Management will continue to engage with the unions in order to secure the peace pact, which was discussed by the parties on Friday.”
An update on the operational impact of the strike would be provided later on Monday.
Sibanye said while the atmosphere remained tense over the weekend, there had been a noticeable reduction in levels of violence and intimidation, and an increase in the number of employees reporting for work.
The miner said the extent of violence that occurred between union members on Wednesday evening was of grave concern, and a meeting with all the unions was called on Sunday, in order to collectively address the hostilities and work towards a collective peace pact.
Last week, Sibanye approached the labour court for an urgent interdict against two rival unions, Amcu and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), in a bid to prevent further violence at its operations in South Africa.
A miner was killed and several injured in shootings and stabbings at Beatrix mine in Welkom and at Kloof mine in Johannesburg as violent clashes broke out after the strike by Amcu members commenced on Wednesday night.
About 15,000 Amcu members embarked on a protected strike at Sibanye from midnight Wednesday after they hit deadlock in wage negotiations. The union demands R12,500 salaries plus R1,000 increments every year for three years. Last week, Sibanye signed a wage agreement with three other unions which agreed to lesser packages.
– African News Agency (ANA)
Source: iol.co.za
