Loading ...The biggest union in South Africa’s gold industry rejected a pay-increase proposal by the country’s largest producers, a lobby group for the companies said.
The National Union of Mineworkers, which speaks for about 52% of employees at companies including world No. 3 producer AngloGold Ashanti, and the Solidarity union rejected the offer, said Elize Strydom, chief negotiator for the producers at the Chamber of Mines. Most members of UASA accepted, she said.
“We will be meeting again next week for two days to communicate further,” Strydom told reporters in Boksburg, east of Johannesburg. The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, which is the second-biggest representative and also rejected the offer, will be present at the talks, she said. Three senior independent facilitators will lead the mediation on Aug. 12 and 13, the producers said in a statement.
Gold has dropped 9.2% since wage talks started June 22, touching a five-year low and hurting companies already contending with higher output costs. In the proposal that was rejected, producers cut the wage-deal term to three years from five and said they would increase basic pay by more than before.
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