Solidarity praises Chamber of Mines for recognition given to minority trade unions

During a meeting with President Zuma today at the Presidential Mining Forum in Pretoria, trade union Solidarity praised the Chamber of Mines for its radically revised position on the recognition of minority trade unions in central bargaining.

This comes after the Chamber declared a dispute with Solidarity during this year’s wage negotiations in the gold sector, and by so doing indicated that a trade union with less than 1% representation in a specific category, has to represent its members centrally during salary negotiations. “The Chamber of Mines took a strong stand for Solidarity to act on behalf of its members during the dispute process even though Solidarity only represents 11 of the 102 000 workers in Category 4 – 8, with the majority of Solidarity’s members being in the category of miners, artisans and officials,” Gideon du Plessis, General Secretary of Solidarity said.

“This recognition of minority trade unions means that workplace democracy will now conform to political democracy because a political party with less than 1% support can also be represented in Parliament and a trade union with less than 1% support can negotiate on behalf of its members,” Du Plessis explained.

This will bring about a drastic increase in trade union involvement in salary negotiations in the mining sector as more trade unions will now be able to negotiate on behalf of their members even if they have less than 1% representation in a particular category. “This year will probably be the last time that negotiations in the gold and coal sectors will take place at a central level within the Chamber of Mines’ structures. Notwithstanding the Chamber’s bad faith action to withdraw a 6% increase for skilled employees in the gold negotiations after Solidarity had accepted it, it is clear that the individual mining houses will henceforth want to negotiate salary adjustments and conditions of service that are in line with their own unique circumstances and sustainability prospects,” Du Plessis explained.

“Salary negotiations at central level become extremely cumbersome and protracted. The current central bargaining model prevents companies wishing to grant better conditions or unique benefits that could lead to a speedy settlement, from doing so,” Du Plessis said.

Solidarity also called the President’s attention to the fact that mining houses do not comply with the mandatory Code of Good Practice on the Management of Fatigue. Due to an increase in retrenchments, a shortage of skilled employees are now being experienced, leading to employees having to work more shifts which is inconsistent with the Code of Good Practice. “Apart from it being a criminal offence, it could also lead to the closure of all of those mines that do not comply with the requirements contained in the code,” Du Plessis said. On Monday, 7 September Solidarity submitted an official request to the Chief Inspector of Mines at the Department of Mineral Resources to take immediate action against the respective companies that do not comply with the requirements. Non-compliance with the Code of Good practice can incur a fine levied against a mining house as well as the closure of a mine until the mining house complies with the code.

Mining industry players today gave feedback to President Zuma on the state of the mining sector and on progress made with the implementation of action plans as contained in the Framework Agreement for a Sustainable Mining Industry.

Issued by Gideon du Plessis, General Secreatry, Solidarity, 8 September 2015