The four-and-a-half month long strike at some of SA’s largest gold mines, in which nine people have been killed so far, is entering a crucial phase, with the delicate balance shifting ever-so-slightly in favour of the National Union of Mineworkers and the target company Sibanye-Stillwater and away from the strikers and their union, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union .
Still, there are twists. Despite the long duration of the strike, strike numbers are holding, but crucially all three of the mines are still running too at a slower rate. That’s very different from the situation when Amcu was thrusting into the platinum industry. At Driefontein, an Amcu stronghold, attendance is only about 25%; but at Kloof, it’s around 70% and at Beatrix, it’s about 60%.
One of the assumed intentions of the strike by Amcu was to solidify and galvanise its membership base, ousting the NUM once and for all. But it appears the balance has tipped the other way; not by much but by enough. The finding also allows Sibanye-Stillwater to extend the wage agreement it made with NUM, and in fact initially with Amcu representatives, to all employees. This could a crucial tipping point, because it would mean Amcu members would have the option of staying on strike, or returning at higher pay, albeit not as high as the union is demanding.
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