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Gold set for a major shake-up
Government, labour and industry agree to join hands, writes JABULANI SIKHAKHANE
The review will include issues such as more focused state assistance to loss-making gold mines, the implementation of a social plan to lessen the impact of job losses, and finding suitable alternatives to job cuts, such as tighter cost controls and improved productivity. In terms of the agreement, which followed a two-day summit organised by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), gold mining companies will submit their retrenchment plans to the scrutiny of the Gold Crisis Committee, made up of three representatives each from government, labour and the Chamber of Mines.
Ahead of the summit, the NUM accused the mining companies of using the lower gold price, currently hovering below the $300 level, as "a battering ram to get rid of the workforce". In the words of Chamber of Mines president Bobby Godsell, the accord struck a balance between "the harsh commercial realities of companies losing money and their need to cut labour", and the NUM's emphasis on the "profound effects of retrenchments on workers and their families". He said: "We have found a balance where those commercial realities can be accommodated." At another level, Friday's accord also means that Minerals and Energy Affairs Minister Penuell Maduna has already won acceptance for the Advisory Board as proposed in the Green Paper on Minerals and Mining Policy. The green paper proposes the creation of the board to advise on medium- and long-term solutions to the crises in the mining industry. The accord, signed by the NUM, Labour Minister Tito Mboweni and the Chamber of Mines, says that the crisis committee will be a precursor to the Advisory Board. In terms of the declaration, mines will submit retrenchment plans to the crisis committee, which will review such plans for a period of six weeks. Thereafter, the mines can serve formal retrenchment notices to the employees concerned. "Retrenchment processes already commenced in terms of the Labour Relations Act will be dealt with at the first meeting of the Gold Crisis Committee," the accord said. What is not yet clear is whether the GCC will have powers to stop retrenchments should it not be satisfied with the reasons put forward by the mining companies. The three parties also committed themselves to implementing a social plan, about which an agreement is being negotiated by the stakeholders in Nedlac. Notwithstanding any legislative processes that may arise from the Nedlac process, "parties agree to implement aspects of the Nedlac social plan agreement applicable to the mining industry through a process of negotiation and consultation". The accord recommends the implementation of the government proposal to set up "a rapid response team" to deal with notices of retrenchments of more than 10% (cumulatively) of the workforce in any one year. This team should work with labour and management "to develop and implement a package of pre- and post-retrenchment support measures. These include the establishment of advice centres where resources and infrastructure permit. One possible solution could be the infrastructure of the mining industry's recruitment agency, The Employment Bureau of Africa (TEBA). On the gold price issue, the accord implores government to approach the governors of central banks "with a view to clarifying their attitude to holding gold and adopting a positive attitude in this regard". The summit also called for a transparent approach to the development of policy on the future of gold as a store of currency value. Godsell said at a media briefing that the current gold price was not at a level indicated by the supply and demand for bullion in the market. The three parties also asked government to speed up the various initiatives, including jewellery clusters, aimed at the beneficiation of minerals. He would not comment further, saying the two parties had met on Thursday.
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The accord does not prevent the gold mines from retrenching workers but creates the crisis committee as a transparent mechanism through which both the NUM and government can test management's reasons for retrenching workers.