[miningmx.com] — EMPLOYERS in the gold mining sector have tabled new
wage hike proposals to striking mineworkers, with the offer being conditional on all
employees returning to work by Thursday evening.
The offer was made on Tuesday at a meeting between the Chamber of Mines, the
National Union of Mineworkers, Solidarity and UASA, and followed an undertaking by
employers last week to fast-track changes in job categories. The offer was made on
behalf of AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields and Harmony Gold.
The new proposals include doing away with the category-three entry level, implying
the lowest paid workers would receive an adjustment to the entry level rate.
Similarly, a new category has been created for operators – locomotive drivers,
loaders, winch and water jet operators – while rock drill operators would receive an
additional allowance.
The CoM wasn’t immediately available to give more details around the amounts in
question.
According to Franz Stehring, a divisional manager at UASA, the change in job category
of entry level workers would imply an increase from R4,840 to R5,000 per month as a
basic salary. The operators’ salary would improve from R5,000 to R5,300 (R5,250 for
Harmony), while RDOs would receive an additional R500 allowance (R350 at
Harmony).
Other job categories would receive increases of 2%, over and above the 10% annual
increase negotiated last year for 2012.
These increases are applicable to workers’ basic salary and do not take into account
other cost-to-company benefits. An operator earning R5,300 per month, for instance,
also qualifies for a living out allowance, pension and medical benefits that would lift
the cost-to-company salary to between R8,000 and R9,000 per month. According
to documentation seen by Miningmx after the first publication of this article, the total
cost-to-company (CTC) pay of workers in this category would be R9,035. per month.
RDOs would be earning R10,290 CTC, and R5,912/month as a basic salary. Workers
can also earn more by means of bonuses and overtime payments.
Union leaders would present the offer to workers at mass meetings on Wednesday.
Stehring said that the offer was conditional on all employees returning to work by the
evening shift on Thursday.
