Lonmin and partners urge union to accept offer as strike continues

25th Apr 2014 07:37

South African platinum miners Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), Impala Platinum (Implats) and Lonmin have urged trade unions to take up their settlement offer for employees in an effort to bring an end to the three-month strikes that have 'crippled' the sector.The three companies said that no resolution has yet been achieved in resolving the industrial action, which relates to wages and benefits, following recent meetings between producers and representatives of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU)."The settlement offer has been made in the interest of bringing an end to the 13-week strike that has crippled the platinum sector and has brought untold hardship to employees, their families, communities and the companies," Lonmin said.The strike has so far cost employees of the three companies a total of R6.4bn (£360m) in lost income and the producers themselves around R14.5bn (£810m) in lost revenue."We strongly urge the AMCU leadership to take this fair settlement offer to their members and to let them decide," said the bosses of Amplats, Implats and Lonmin in a joint statement.The offer, tabled by the producers on April 17th, would see the basic wages and allowances for entry-level underground employees rise to R12,500 per month (R150,000 per annum) by July 2017. For Lonmin employees in particular, this reflects an increase in cash remuneration for the highest-paid employees of 7.5% and an increase for the lowest earners of 9.5%. "This revised offer is one of the highest increases anywhere in the sector and the country," Lonmin said.BC