Labour Appeal Court dismisses AMCU appeal

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The Chamber of Mines (CoM), acting on behalf of gold producers AngloGold Ashanti, Harmony and Sibanye Gold, on Thursday welcomed the decision by the Labour Appeal Court to dismiss the appeal by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) against the 2014 decision of the Labour Court in favour of the CoM.

During the 2013 wage negotiations, AMCU sought clarity from the Labour Court on its right to strike at individual mines where it was the majority union. The Labour Court ruled, however, that a union required a majority at company level, not just at individual mine level.

In June 2014, the Labour Court confirmed an interim order preventing AMCU from embarking on protected strike action at certain operations owned by AngloGold Ashanti, Harmony and Sibanye.

In August last year, AMCU appealed the ruling.

This followed an application to the Labour Court by the CoM, acting on behalf of its members, in January 2014, requesting the court to declare strike action by AMCU on wages and other conditions of service, unprotected, on the basis that AMCU was bound by a collective agreement prohibiting a strike for the period July 1, 2013, to June 30, 2015, on these issues.

CoM chief negotiator Elize Strydom welcomed the decision, stating that it “was in the best interests of both employees and the industry.”