2013 saw tough wage negotiations and industrial action stays in spotlight

Karl Gernetzky provides a useful summary of the major instances of industrial action in 2013. He writes, however, that threatened and actual industrial action have not yet come to an end, with the standoff between mines and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) continuing in the platinum and gold sectors. Possible strike action by Amcu in the platinum sector raises the prospect of an industry-wide stoppage involving Anglo American Platinum, Impala Platinum and Lonmin. With Amcu having declined a Chamber of Mines gold wage offer in September, which was accepted by the other three recognised unions, the union could still mount a strike in that sector. Meanwhile, Amcu's rival, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), is continuing an extended period of industrial action at Northam Platinum's Zondereinde mine. But, even as the two rivals eye each other's wage negotiations, at least a recurrence of strike violence in the mining sector has been largely averted.