I minatori d’oro sudafricani scioperano per “salari da schiavi in un’economia da bianchi”
– In Sudafrica da un mese è scoppiata un’ondata di scioperi nelle costruzioni, auto, miniere d’oro.
– Il 3 settembre, circa 80 000 minatori scioperano per aumenti fino al 60%, il sindacato minatori – National Union[e] of Mineworkes (NUM) ha abbassato la richiesta al 10%, dopo l’offerta del padronato di aumenti del 6,5%, pari all’inflazione.
– I costi di produzione dell’oro sono aumentati perché deve essere estratto in maggiore profondità.
– Divisioni all’interno di NUM: un suo portavoce di NUM, negando che la rivendicazione di aumenti del 60% sia eccessiva: se ci sono capi che guadagnano milioni di Rand all’anno, comodamente seduti nei loro uffici con l’aria condizionata, perché i minatori non possono guadagnarne 7 000 al mese?
– Il segretario generale NUM, ha invece dichiarato che il 10% basterebbe per terminare lo sciopero.
– Non si sa se i lavoratori iscritti accetteranno; NUM organizza circa il 64% dei 120 000 minatori sudafricani.
– Si calcola che lo sciopero costi oltre $30mn/giorno di mancata produzione. Il padronato minaccia la chiusura di miniere e la perdita di posti di lavoro.
– L’industria aurifera sudafricana è il settore più importante dell’economia nazionale, il maggior datore di lavoro e produttore di valuta estera; è la 5a maggiore a livello internazionale, con il 6% della produzione totale; negli anni Settanta era la maggiore con il 68% della produzione totale mondiale; quella del platino sta riprendendosi dopo i forti scioperi dello scorso anno.
– Il governo a guida ANC cerca di contenere le proteste operaie in vista delle elezioni del prossimo anno.
– Il 16 agosto 2012 la polizia ha ucciso 46 minatori del platino (34 nella sola miniera di Lonmin, a Marikana) in uno scontro con i lavoratori in sciopero proclamato dal sindacato AMCU, rivale di NUM, che accusa NUM di essere filo-governativo.
– Secondo un esperto del settore, i fatti di Marikana dovrebbero spingere il governo ad attuare riforme nel settore, ancora regolamentato secondo le regole vigenti nell’apartheid.
– Per i minatori le riforme devono portare aumenti salariali e migliori condizioni di lavoro.
– Per il padronato occorre maggiore sicurezza politica produttività della forza lavoro e prezzi alti delle materie prime. I maggiori gruppi del settore sono AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields, Rand Uranium, Harmony Gold, Evander Gold, Sibanye Gold e Village Main Reef.
– La lotta si era acuita per le tensioni tra AMCU e NUM. Dopo la tragedia di Marikana si è rafforzato il sindacato Association for Mineworkers and Construction (AMCU), che ha ora superato come peso NUM nella miniera di Lonmin. AMCU chiede aumenti fino al 150%, dato che la struttura salariale è ferma al period apartheid.
– Negli ultimi mesi il Rand sudafricano si è svalutato del 15% sul $, a causa delle forti lotte operaie (secondo Guardian)
– Continuano gli scioperi selvaggi di oltre 15000 lavoratori delle miniere di cromo a Glencore Xstrata, iniziati il 28 maggio 2013.
– A metà maggio scioperi selvaggi dei minatori di Lonmin e Anglo-American Paltinum;
– oltre 10 000 lavoratori dell’abbigliamento scesi in sciopero nella provincia di KwaZulu-Natal, il 21 maggio.
– AMCU ha cercato di far rientrare al lavoro gli scioperanti: ci sono regole da seguire.
– Le Banche internazionali hanno ritirato $610 mn. dal mercato azionario sudafricano nelle ultime due settimane a causa delle lotte.
– La crescita del PIL sudafricano è scesa dal 2,1% del 2012 allo 0,9% nel primo trimestre 2013, il minor tasso di crescita dal 2009.
– Ad inizio maggio Lonmin aveva profitti semestrali di $54mn., nonostante lamenti margini risicati.
– Il tasso di disoccupazione ufficiale sudafricano è del 25%.
– Nel 2012 per scioperi selvaggi sono state perse 17 290 552 ore; 99 scioperi registrati, di cui 45 selvaggi (ministero del Lavoro sudafricano).
La repressione poliziesca dell’agosto 2012 a Marikana è stata appoggiata dalla burocrazia sindacale. 34 lavoratori uccisi e nessuna delle richieste dei lavoratori venne evasa. Il sindacato COSATU e NUM hanno collaborato per far tornare al lavoro gli scioperanti.
Depuis un mois, une vague de grèves affecte les secteurs de la construction, de l’industrie automobile et des mines d’or en Afrique du Sud. Près de 40 000 travailleurs manifestent pour réclamer une augmentation de leur salaire. La ministre du Travail, Mildred Oliphant, a annoncé qu’elle souhaitait mettre rapidement un terme à ces grèves et a demandé aux patronats et syndicats de trouver le plus tôt possible une issue au conflit, rapporte le quotidien. La baisse de production, notamment dans le secteur de l’or, joue un rôle significatif dans l’économie du pays.
BBC News Africa
3 September 2013 Last updated at 17:56 GMT
– Some 80,000 gold miners in South Africa have gone on a strike to call for higher pay, but their union[e] has significantly scaled down its demands.
– The National Union[e] of Mineworkers (NUM) is now calling for a 10% wage rise, down from earlier demands for increases of up to 60% for some workers.
– Workers last week rejected an offer of a 6% rise – the same as the current annual rate of inflation.
– South Africa’s gold industry is one of the biggest in the world.
– But it has been in decline in recent years, while the platinum sector is still recovering from violence during last year’s strikes.
– It has been estimated that the gold miners’ strike could cost South Africa more than $30m (£20m) a day in lost output.
– Mine owners are warning it could lead to gold mines closing and thousands of jobs being lost, following a fall in the price of gold.
They say that their production costs have increased as they have had to dig ever deeper to extract gold.
‘White man’s economy’
– For many years, South Africa was by far the world’s largest gold producer and accounted for 68% of global output in 1970, reports the AFP news agency.
President Jacob Zuma has urged both sides to find a solution, saying: "A strike hurts both sides."
– It was aware of the "devastating" impact industrial action would have on the economy, the NUM said.
However, it was a "largely a white man’s economy" with no benefits for poor black mineworkers, the NUM added.
– NUM spokesman Lesiba Seshoka had denied that a 60% pay rise demand was excessive, telling AFP: "If there are bosses that sit in air-conditioned offices earning millions a year, why can’t they (miners) earn 7,000 ($700) basic a month?"
– But the union’s general secretary, Frans Baleni, later told the BBC that if gold companies offered a 10% increase, this would be accepted and the strike called off.
It is not clear if this position would go down well with the entire membership of the union, says the BBC’s Will Ross, in Johannesburg.
– The NUM represents about 64% of South Africa’s 120,000 gold miners.
– South Africans were shocked last year when police shot dead 34 platinum miners during an unofficial strike called by a rival union, which accused the NUM of being too close to the ANC government.
– The BBC’s Mike Wooldridge in Johannesburg says that with elections taking place next year, the government is hoping to contain labour unrest in the current wage bargaining season.
Strikes in the vehicle manufacturing and construction industries are already hitting South Africa’s vulnerable economy, he says.
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80,000 miners walk out in industrial action that will cost country £22m a day as government admits it can only plead for solution
The Guardian, Tuesday 3 September 2013 20.16 BST
Members of the National Union[e] of Mineworkers take part in a strike in Johannesburg
Members of the National Union[e] of Mineworkers take part in a strike in Johannesburg. Photograph: STRINGER/Reuters
– About 80,000 gold miners in South Africa walked out on strike on Tuesday night, raising fears of renewed violence in the crisis-hit industry and underlining the government’s dwindling authority.
President Jacob Zuma admitted that he could only plead with companies and unions to find a peaceful solution and avoid seriously damaging the economy, already hit by sluggish growth and a contagion of strikes in other sectors.
But the parties remain poles apart. The National Union[e] of Mineworkers (NUM) accused captains of industry of "arrogance" forcing it to embark on nationwide industrial action "that will change the gold mining landscape forever".
– The dispute over pay comes a year after 46 people died during unrest in the platinum belt and amid signs that the century-old mining industry model is broken. For years South Africa was the world’s top gold producer, accounting for more than two-thirds of output in 1970, but it has slipped to fifth place with just 6% of global production.
The NUM is demanding rises of up to 60% after talks broke down. The union, which represents about 64% of South Africa’s 120,000 gold miners, said it rejected "with contempt slave wages as represented by an increase of a meagre 6.5% or R300 (£18.68) per month". It claims bosses have continuously awarded themselves huge bonuses.
"The NUM has noted government’s wishes that industrial action be avoided and dares the state to explain which side it is on," spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka added. "The union[e] is aware of the devastating impact industrial action would have on the economy, which is largely a white man’s economy with no benefits for poor black mineworkers."
– A wave of strikes across South Africa, including in the auto industry and construction sectors, has sent the rand to four-year lows. A shutdown in gold production will cost the country more than £22m a day, according to estimates, and the NUM has suggested it could go on until Christmas.
Zuma urged mining houses and unions to reach a wage agreement soon, conceding: "Government can only appeal to parties to find a solution. I don’t think we can tell the management of the mine ‘accept what the workers are saying’, nor can we tell the workers [that].
"We just appeal that the two parties must find one another because a protracted strike is not helpful to the country nor to the industry itself. The strike hurts both sides. Both sides must be ready to give and to take as well."
– But the troubles afflicting mining over the past two years, including the police massacre of striking workers in Marikana and its aftermath, have exposed the limitations of the African National Congress.
Aubrey Matshiqi, a political analyst and research fellow at the Helen Suzman Foundation, said: "The sense I get is the government is becoming increasingly helpless. What might save the mining sector is the relationship between employer and union: you need courage on both sides to be very honest about their needs and willingness to sacrifice. The worst thing they can do is to marry themselves to short-term gains."
All is not yet lost for the industry, Matshiqi insisted. "It’s a crisis but I don’t think it’s inevitable that it will deepen. A deepening is avoidable depending on how the protagonists conduct themselves."
– Even the NUM’s demands are eclipsed by the more radical Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, which is pushing for 150% pay rises, claiming that the industry is still locked into apartheid-era pay structures despite 19 years of democracy.
– The gold mining companies are the London-listed AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields, Rand Uranium, Harmony Gold, Evander Gold, Sibanye Gold and Village Main Reef. They say the demands are unrealistic, given rising costs and falling bullion prices.
Matshiqi warned: "Listening to the union[e]s this morning, I heard a hardening of attitudes which may facilitate violence. If one union[e] accepts the offer and the other doesn’t, violence may be the way one union[e] thinks it can keep the strike going. This calls for a high level of maturity on both sides." rest.
Miners sing at a memorial service on Friday for the 34 striking workers shot dead by police a year ago at the Marikana platinum mine in South Africa
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World Socialist Web Site
By Thomas Gaist
– Over 1,500 chromium miners at Glencore Xstrata launched wildcat strikes beginning on May 28, which continued as of this writing.
The strikes began when two hundred miners downed tools at Helena mine in the Bushveld Complex. These 200 have already been fired by the company in retaliation, and ultimatums have been issued against the remaining strikers.
The firings add to the ongoing crisis of the mining industry, with preparations for salary talks in the face of mounting unrest.
– The strikes are the most recent actions in a rising tide of militancy among South African workers. Lonmin and Anglo-American Platinum miners launched wildcat strikes beginning in mid-May, and over 10,000 South African clothing workers began striking in KwaZulu-Natal province on May 21.
– The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union[e] (AMCU) has continuously sought to organize the return of striking miners to work. “There are channels to be followed … go back to work so that your enemies will not take advantage of this situation,” AMCU President Joseph Mathunjwa told the workers.
Time and again, the AMCU has demonstrated its thoroughgoing hostility to a movement the working class against the corrupt African National Congress (ANC) regime.
The union[e] bureaucracy is both terrified by and hostile to the developing class struggle. Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said on Thursday: “Nineteen years later in a democracy we are becoming the protest headquarters of the world; we call that a ticking bomb about to explode.”
– The bourgeoisie is denouncing the workers struggles for disrupting the flow of mining profits into the hands of the South African and international capital. International banks have withdrawn $610 million from the South African bond market in the past two weeks, amid the unrest.
– Africa’s largest economy saw a slowdown in GDP growth from 2.1 percent in the final quarter of 2012 to 0.9 percent in the first quarter of 2013, the slowest rate since 2009. The mining sector accounts for 60 percent of South Africa’s export revenues.
President Jacob Zuma, for his part, blamed the deterioration in the economy on the militant workers: “The tension in the industry will not help the economy…. We could impoverish our country.”
Zuma’s threat that workers struggles will impoverish the economy is a contemptible provocation. In fact, it is his government that has worked ceaselessly with employers and the union[e] bureaucracy—in the mines and throughout the economy—to keep South African workers on poverty wages.
– Despite company representatives’ claims that the mining giants are operating on “thin margins,” Lonmin announced half-yearly profits of $54 million in early May.
New rounds of wage negotiations are set for early June. According to Bloomberg, [South African] Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu and Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan have formulated a plan with platinum producers and other miners to combat any potential disruption to annual pay negotiations.
The attacks on the miners have reverberated throughout South African society, which is already characterized by deep social inequality and an official unemployment rate of 25 percent.
– The strikes this month point to the explosive development of class conflict in South Africa over the past year. According to South African Minister of Labour Mildred Oliphant, a total of 17,290,552 working hours were lost in 2012 as a result of wildcat strikes. “In 2012, a total of 99 strikes were recorded in the department strike data system. Out of 99 strikes, 45 strikes were classified as unprotected or unprocedural strikes,” she said in testimony to Parliament.
This wave of strikes follows last August’s massacre of striking miners in Marikana, when union[e] violence against workers demanding wage increases culminated in a police massacre of 34 strikers—supported by the union[e] bureaucracy and the ANC regime. The massacre showed the reactionary character of the ANC and the murderous hostility of the union[e] bureaucracy to the working class.
– None of the workers’ demands were met, and COSATU and the National Union[e] of Mineworkers (NUM) collaborated with the state to drive the miners back to work in the fall of 2012, under threat of mass firings.
During the past month, workers affiliated with AMCU have been at the forefront of the wildcat actions. The AMCU leadership has sought to end the actions in a timely manner, however, letting off some steam without allowing actions to get out of hand. They are pledging themselves as allies of the bloodstained Zuma regime.
This week, AMCU President Joseph Mathunjwa has claimed that the recent unrest could have been avoided if Zuma had been more willing to work with the breakaway union: “After the massacre, AMCU wrote a letter to President Zuma requesting a mining indaba [conference of leaders]. They didn’t respond. He missed a precious opportunity because he looked at the colour of the T-shirt that made the call and forgot to look at the nation. If he had, he wouldn’t be panicking like this today.”
According to Financial Mail, “Mr Mathunjwa said that neither the government nor the industry should fear bargaining negotiations with AMCU, which would engage responsibly and strive to reach an agreement.”
Copyright © 1998-2013 World Socialist Web Site – All rights reserved
BBC News Business
15 August 2013 Last updated at 23:14 GMT
By Lerato Mbele Presenter, Africa Business Report
– It’s a crisp August morning in Johannesburg and the churn of the local news media slowly reminds people about the moment, one year ago, when things took a turn for the worse in the mining community of Marikana.
At this time last year 34 mineworkers were killed in a violent confrontation with the South African police, after an industrial dispute turned ugly. The dramatic pictures were beamed across the world, showing resolute men carrying machetes confronted by plumes of gunfire and smoke.
This was a watershed moment in the new South Africa, a country that has elevated the "bill of rights" as the pillar of its value system.
In the days after the tragedy at Lonmin’s Marikana mine it remained unclear who was to blame for the violent and deadly outcome, and unfortunately one year later there is still no clarity.
The tragedy has left Africa’s wealthiest economy anxious for peace and equilibrium to be restored.
– The importance of mining to the South African economy has been shrinking for years, and it now contributes less than 10% of GDP. In addition, the process of extracting resources has become more expensive and dangerous as mine shafts go deeper below the earth’s surface.
Despite these challenges, Peter Leon, a respected mining analyst, says the sector cannot be written off from the larger economy. It remains the largest generator of foreign exchange earnings and it is the largest private employer in the country.
For Mr Leon what is worrying is that since Marikana, "South Africa has seen a downgrade of its international credit ratings, the local currency weakened and business confidence decline."
– The South African rand has fallen 15% against the dollar in recent months, and while it is still too early to tell whether investment has fallen, analysts agree that something needs to be done and quickly.
But Mr Leon adds that if anything good came out of Marikana it is that it acted as a wake-up call for the government "which will force it to stop dawdling on industry reforms".
There is much debate over what these reforms should be. For the workers, change would entail higher wages and better living conditions on the mines.
– What remains important to the mining companies is greater policy certainty, a productive labour force and higher commodity prices globally.
The government is working on a framework agreement between all stakeholders, aimed at bringing much-needed stability to the industry, but some unions are unhappy with it.
Until there is clear guidance from the government on how these issues can be resolved, more strikes are almost inevitable, which does not bode well for South Africa’s image as an attractive investment destination.
Union[e] politics
– Another thing to have come out of the Marikana tragedy is the emergence of the Association for Mineworkers and Construction (AMCU) as a much stronger force.
– The wage dispute at Marikana was exacerbated by tensions between AMCU and the National Union[e] of Mineworkers (NUM). At the Lonmin mine, AMCU has now displaced the NUM as the biggest union[e] at the mine.
– The president of AMCU, Joseph Mathunjwa has become the face most associated with Marikana.
On the surface he is a calm and affable man, dressed in casual khakis. Yet his appearance belies a steely resolve to introduce a "second revolution in the mining sector".
"[The protests will] go on, unless the government offers some help with the situation," he tells the BBC.
The meteoric rise of AMCU is a trend that many analysts are watching closely. After all, the NUM has a 31-year history in South Africa, having been formed against the backdrop of apartheid.
Frans Baleni, the NUM secretary-general, notes that during the apartheid era there was a common enemy in the form of the regime security police. Today he is baffled that "it’s worker killing another worker". In his view, this is the dynamic introduced by events at Marikana.
When quizzed about the shifting balance of power away from NUM to AMCU, he simply responds: "We have not been discredited… soon people will know that they’ve been lied to."
While the unions posture and compete for members, and the government considers how to modernise a system of mining that was inherited from the apartheid state, there are also calls for the South African police to be trained to handle labour unrest with greater sensitivity.
For now though, the most pressing issue is redress for the families who lost someone in the Marikana mine tragedy.
The state-sponsored Farlam Commission of Inquiry is meant to facilitate that process, but it’s bogged down by financial problems.
For many, the perceived success of this commission will be the litmus test of whether South Africa has truly reflected on the events of 16 August 2012.
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"Aéroports, sites de construction, industries textiles et mines d’or" sont à l’arrêt, explique le quotidien. Les travailleurs de ces "secteurs clés" de la première puissance économique du continent ont rejoint les 30 000 ouvriers de l’automobile, en grève depuis une semaine pour demander une hausse de salaire. Le quotidien économique, de tendance libérale, s’inquiète de l’impact de ces grèves sur la croissance et "l’image du pays" auprès des investisseurs, et rappelle que les industries textiles ont déjà "perdu 50 000 emplois ces dix dernières années".
Gold Fields a posé un ultimatum aux 15 000 mineurs grévistes, leur demandant de reprendre le travail d’ici jeudi après-midi, rapporte le quotidien économique. Dans le cas contraire, le groupe sud-africain menace de les licencier. Selon la direction, Gold Fields a usé de tous les ressorts possibles pour résoudre le conflit avec ses employés. Cette annonce montre l’impatience des industriels face aux grèves qui se sont multipliées dans les mines, souligne le journal. Anglo American Platinum a pour sa part licencié 12 000 mineurs en grève début octobre.
By DEVON MAYLIE
JOHANNESBURG—South African gold-mining companies offered a 4% wage increase Monday to unions, far below the demands previously made by labor, ahead of wage talks that come after deadly clashes and strikes swept through the country’s mining sector last year.
The level of the companies’ offer indicates that the 2013 wage negotiations will be "exceptionally challenging," said Solidarity, one of the unions involved.
– How the wage talks progress and what kind of labor unrest might accompany them is being watched closely by South Africa’s government, which is already struggling to reduce a 25.2% unemployment rate.
"The future of the industry is at stake," said Elize Strydom, who is running the wage negotiations on behalf of gold companies at industry body Chamber of Mines. Ms. Strydom said if the unions push for wage increases above inflation "it would be dire" for the industry.
– The two major mining unions are seeking steep pay increases. The more-established National Union[e] of Mineworkers is asking for a 60% increase in the minimum, entry-level salary for gold-mine workers, while the newer Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union[e] seeks more than a twofold rise.
– The wage demands come as declining gold prices and rising costs have forced mining firms to scale back operations around the world. On Monday, South Africa’s largest gold producer AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. ANG.JO -3.46% said it expected to book a charge between $2.2 billion and $2.6 billion during the second quarter due to revised gold forecasts. The company also cut its production forecast for the year.
– Gold-mining companies said the offer takes into account that wage increases were already granted last year following the violent strikes. They also said that workers should be aware of the challenges facing gold companies in their demands. Gold prices have plunged 24% this year.
– Unions said that gold companies still have room to go higher and the offer is below inflation in South Africa, which stands at 5.6%. Labor accounts for between 50% and 55% of gold-company total costs.
– Solidarity, a smaller union, said it hopes companies will come back July 24, when talks resume, with a higher offer. If a settlement isn’t reached, unions could strike at gold mines in the country, it said.
"They’re pleading poverty," said Gideon du Plessis, Solidarity’s general secretary. "This is the opening offer. We know there is room for movement."
– The Chamber of Mines industry body represents gold miners such as AngloGold Ashanti, Harmony Gold Mining Co. Ltd. and Gold Fields Ltd.
– The four labor unions involved are NUM, AMCU, United Association of South Africa and Solidarity.
– NUM said it recognizes that gold prices are in decline but said salaries aren’t sustainable for workers.
– South Africa was once the world’s largest gold producer, but it has dropped to sixth place in recent years as its mines age. Many mines in the country are nearly depleted of their economically recoverable resources.
– Gold output in South Africa fell about 80% over the last decade and last year hit the lowest level since the early 1900s, according to the Chamber of Mines. Around 61% of the gold industry is just breaking even or making a loss, the chamber says.
– Despite the decline, gold mining remains an important pillar of South Africa’s economy, accounting for about 1.5% of annual gross domestic product and directly employing around 145,000 people. Solidarity said, however, that in the past two years 14,000 jobs have already been lost in the gold sector.
Write to Devon Maylie at devon.maylie@dowjones.com