Johannesburg – Chief operating officer for Sibanye-Stillwater’s gold operations, Richard Stewart, said on Friday that the group was preparing for a strike in the new year as wage talks deadlocked.
Stewart said there was no appetite for a strike prior to Christmas.
“We are heading towards the last few weeks of the year in the industry. If there is no resolution now, we will continue to engage to avert any strike. If there was one, it would be in the new year,” said Steward.
Sibanye went through a five-month long wage strike – led by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) – at its gold operations in November 2018. While three other unions struck an agreement with the company, the offer was rejected by Amcu and led 14,000 members out in the bruising strike.
In the current wage talks, the company is negotiating with Amcu, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), Uasa and trade union Solidarity. Wage talks have deadlocked after all the unions rejected the company’s wage offer again in talks held last month.
“We are planning for strikes. We have to. We are not planning because it is something that we want, or something that we intend, or something that we expect. I think it is responsible for us to recognise the position that we are in and to be able to make sure that in the event that it does occur, we are able to sustain our operations throughout the period for the benefit of all stakeholders,” said Steward.
