UNIONS representing 69% of employees at Harmony Gold’s South African operations, including the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), signed a new three-year wage deal, the Minerals Council announced today.
The wage agreement allows for increases to the basic wage category 4 to 8 employees of R700 in year one, R750 in year two and R825 in year three, the company said. Miners, Artisans and Officials will receive increases of 6.3% for each year of the agreement. The other unions that signed the wage deal are Solidarity and UASA.
In addition to the basic wage, the parties agreed to an increase in the current Living-out Allowance of R100 each year to R2 400 over the period of the agreement, as well as the re-introduction of a Service Increment for Officials of 0.5% from the second year of the agreement going forward.
Harmony currently employs 31,000 employees in the bargaining unit.
“This is a positive sign of co-operative engagement between the representatives of workers and the gold companies that will advance the interests of both sets of parties,” said Motsamai Motlhamme, chief negotiator for the Minerals Council.
