Amcu has little to show as Sibanye strike ends
Five-month action cost R1.6bn and lost production of 110,000oz of gold, while nine people died
The five-month strike at Sibanye-Stillwater’s gold mines, in which nine people were killed, ended with very little to show for the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), leaving it in a weakened position going into platinum wage talks. Amcu called 14,000 of its members, representing about half of Sibanye’s gold workforce, out on a wage strike on November 21, despite three other unions signing a pay deal just days earlier. The strike cost Sibanye R1.6bn and lost production of 110,000oz of gold as it struggled with violence and the intimidation of the balance of its workforce reporting for duty. Mineral resources minister Gwede Mantashe said during a visit to areas around Carletonville that nine people had been killed and more than 60 houses burnt in strike-related violence. Analysts saw the strike as futile, damaging for both sides and ill-considered by union leadership ahead of platinum sector wage talks in June. "This probably reduces the risk of a strike in the ...
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