According to the Union Association of South Africa (UASA) and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the agreement flies in the face of the rights that both enjoy as equal partners in terms of the employment relations agreement (ERA) which binds Amplats, UASA, NUM and AMCU. “After a full month’s negotiations between organised labour and management, during which the services of two CCMA facilitators were engaged, Anglo Platinum senior management signed an unlawful agreement with AMCU, completely excluding UASA and NUM,” a statement said.
The two excluded unions have jointly placed Anglo Platinum on terms to comply with the ERA, failing which urgent court action shall follow. According to UASA’s legal department, the concluded agreement between AMCU and Amplats is void and NUM and UASA should be permitted to continue with the annual wage/salary negotiations with Amplats in compliance with ERA.
“It is clear to UASA that both Amplats and AMCU have flouted the rule of law by the devious conclusion of this unlawful agreement. Orderly industrial relations are paramount to the economic stability of our economy. It is simply untenable that a blue-chip multinational corporation like Anglo Platinum has seen fit to ignore its duty to bargain with UASA and NUM,” the statement said.
