(Reuters) – South African precious metals miner Sibanye Stillwater said on Friday that trade unions leading a strike at its gold operations had a mandate from their members to accept a three-year wage deal.
Members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union have been on strike at Sibanye’s gold operations since March 9.
A wage deal brokered by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) will see general employees receive an increase of 1,000 rand ($64.28) a month in the first year of the agreement, 900 rand in the second year and 750 rand in the third. Artisans and other skilled workers will receive a 5% increase in the first year, with increases in subsequent years linked to inflation.
The unions were demanding an increase of 1,000 rand a month over the next three years, while Sibanye’s last offer was an increase of 850 rand a month each year between 2022 and 2024, including a 50 rand increase in a “living-out” allowance.
A NUM spokesperson confirmed the unions had agreed to end the strike.
“Yes, the strike is over. We’re just waiting for the documentation and the signing of the agreement,” NUM spokesperson Livhuwani Mammburu said. Sibanye spokesperson James Wellsted said the agreement could be signed next week.
The final agreement will be extended to all employees including members of the UASA and Solidarity unions, Sibanye said.
($1 = 15.5561 rand)
(Reporting by Anait Miridzhanian in Gdansk and Nelson Banya in Harare; Editing by Alexander Winning and Barbara Lewis)
