Business
South Africa: Amplats scales back job layoffs from 14,000 to 5000 after gov’t pressure
The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union emerged as the dominant union in the platinum shafts last year after it poached tens of thousands of members from the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), a key political ally of the ruling African National Congress (ANC).
South African platinum producer Lonmin said on Thursday that AMCU now represented 70 percent of its main local workforce, reflecting the ongoing union membership struggle.
The company added it was working to finalize a union representation agreement with AMCU, the NUM and other smaller unions to get wage talks off the ground.
The union power struggle explains why the ANC and the government have taken a hard line against the proposed Amplats cuts, a striking contrast to past positions when the gold industry was allowed over the course of a decade to cut tens of thousands of jobs to remain sustainable.
When Amplats announced the plan in January, the mining minister furiously accused the company of betrayal. Amplats has been in talks with the South African government for months to hammer out the agreed restructuring plan expected this week.
General elections are due next year, and for the ANC, the competing interests between the unions means it has lost tens of thousands of potential voters and their many dependents as the NUM is a vehicle for campaigning and getting out the working class vote.
Source: Reuters
