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Tough Wage Talks Launched
in South Africa Gold Sector
From Reuters
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
http://www.reuters.co.za/locales/c_newsArticle.jsp;:42aeda65:e542267d
3f7ef0?type=businessNews&localeKey=en_ZA&storyID=8785819
JOHANNESBURG -- South African mining employers and unions opened pay
talks on Tuesday and one union said reaching a settlement would be
tough.
"On the first day it already appeared that the parties would have a
hard time reaching a settlement," the Solidarity Union said in a
statement.
The Chamber of Mines, representing the biggest gold producers, and
trade unions launched formal wage talks for a two-year contract that
is due to begin in July.
The Chamber, which was not immediately available for comment, made
no formal offer to the unions during the first day of negotiations,
Solidarity said.
But the Chamber warned that with 86 percent of South African mines
operating at a loss, funds were limited and would have to be split
between wage rises and benefit increases, the union said.
The South African gold sector has been put under pressure by a three-
year rally in the rand that has slashed export income and by surging
costs for inputs like steel.
The country's biggest mining union, the National Union of
Mineworkers (NUM), last month called for a 20 percent wage increase
for miners in the world's biggest gold sector while Solidarity is
demanding a 12.3 percent hike.
The Chamber had previously warned that talks would be tough since
the NUM's demand is five times the inflation rate.
Officials of profit-squeezed firms have said workers must expect
rises close to inflation, running under 4 percent, but unions argue
that workers need higher increases to make up for ultra-low wages
and poor conditions during apartheid.
AngloGold Ashanti Ltd, Gold Fields Ltd and Harmony Gold Mining
Company Ltd are the three main gold firms in South Africa, ranking
globally second, fourth and sixth respectively.
In 2003, the country's three biggest gold producers accepted a 10
percent wage rise for the first year of a two-year pact hours before
workers were due to go on strike.
Workers got a 7 percent rise for the second year, which turned out
to be nearly double inflation.
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