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The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) welcomes the Constitution Court judgment handed down today against AMCU's mischievous attempt to challenge a collective wage agreement which was signed between the Chamber of Mines and the majority trade unions in the gold mining sector in 2013.

The legal question was whether the collective wage agreement concluded between the Chamber of Mines, on behalf of certain gold mining companies and the majority unions in the gold sector overall could be extended to bind members of AMCU even though AMCU had majority representation at certain individuals mines.

The collective agreement was extended in terms of section 23(1)(d) of the Labour Relations Act (LRA). This stipulates that a collective agreement binds even employees who are not members of the union's party to the agreement provided those unions “have as their members the majority of employees employed by the employer in the workplace.

This Constitutional Court judgment vindicate the NUM after Sibanye Gold and AMCU signed a R25 wage increase in 2016 after AMCU again refused to sign the 2015 gold sector wage agreement.  The NUM refused to sign the R25 wage increase because it was an insult to the mineworkers in this country.

"It is a victory for the Centralised Collective Bargaining Forum at the Chamber of Mines. The Constitutional Court judgment strengthens Section 23 (1)(d) of the Labour Relations Act which says the employer can enter into a collective wage agreement with the majority unions and that must be extended to the minority unions," said David Sipunzi, NUM General Secretary.

Issued by NUM