Sunday Times Business Times writes that Chris Griffith, CEO of the world's largest platinum producer, Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), says he's not losing any sleep about coming wage talks.
The platinum belt, which North-West University politics professor André Duvenhage has described as "probably the most volatile environment in the country", is bracing itself for tough negotiations around a three-year wage deal. Memories of the prolonged and violent strike that accompanied wage talks in 2014, which cost the industry more than R24bn, are still painfully fresh. Speaking from London while attending the annual Platinum Week gathering, Griffith said he didn't share concerns around the looming wage negotiations. "I'm not losing sleep about those. Every two or three years they come around and we've got to go through that process. We're doing preparations about what we can afford." But he added that they would not be a soft touch, saying: "We'd be very cautious not to push ourselves back over the edge where we've got to start laying off employees again." They have shed more than 60,000 jobs in 10 years. The platinum mining industry is in better shape than it has been for the last couple of years boosted by a weak rand and a rally in palladium and rhodium prices, so Griffith has got no doubts that that will translate into higher expectations. But, Amplats has been engaging with unions between negotiations and they have a "good" relationship, Griffith claimed. However, observers doubt whether the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), the largest and most militant union in the sector, will be in the mood for compromise.
- Read this report by Chris Barron in full at BusinessLive (paywall access only)
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