[miningmx.com] — THE National Union of Mineworkers (Num) is demanding a 14% pay rise for its members at Impala Platinum, the second-largest producer of the precious metal, it said on Wednesday.
The union’s demands are more than triple the official inflation rate, which stood at 4.1% in March.
Last year, the union and Implats agreed on a 7.5% to 8% rise in wages after talks which took weeks and only just managed to avoid a strike. Labour action has dented output of other producers, and the industry has warned that above-inflation wage demands could make the sector uncompetitive.
However, the union expects a quick resolution to this year’s talks, it said.
“For once, we believe that we should be able to find each other in the first round of negotiations and have an agreement within hours. We have significantly lowered our demands,” said Eddie Majadibodu, the Num’s chief negotiator at Implats.
The union said its demands were “reasonable” given higher food prices and fast-rising costs of fuel and electricity.
Fuel prices are at their highest since mid-2008 and have an especially big impact on poor and working-class households who spend a big chunk of their income on food and transport.
Implats was not immediately available to comment.
The union is also asking for the minimum wage for surface workers to be raised to R5,000 a month and R5,700 a month for underground workers.
