Frans Baleni, secretary general of the National Union of Mineworkers in South Africa. He believes independent worker actions cannot win in the longterm., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
Jul 16 2013 10:44PM
Recast NUM vacates Lonmin office
LUYOLO MKENTANE
New Age, South Africa
After nearly a decade as the majority union at one of the country’s biggest platinum producers, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) vacated its offices at Lonmin yesterday, following its de-recognition by the platinum giant.
This after the NUM’s Labour Court case to stop the company from de-recognising it was dismissed with costs on Monday.
The court ruled in May that the union had to regain its majority status by yesterday or vacate the offices, following its unseating by Amcu during last year’s violent wildcat strikes, which claimed the lives of 44 people.
Lonmin spokesperson Sue Vey said the union was due to vacate its offices by end of business yesterday.
Vey said the NUM’s de-recognition would be handled in a professional manner for the sake of peace and stability of the ailing mining industry.
“We’ll try not to make it much of a big thing,” she said.
NUM spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka said: “We have long accepted the fact that we are not the majority union at Lonmin.
“We will leave the Lonmin operation. Why would we stay when we have been de-recognised? We will abide by the court’s ruling. We will move on.”
The union, however, had referred the issue to the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration and it was expected to be heard today.
Seshoka said the NUM had been a majority union at Lonmin, the country’s third-largest platinum producer, for about 10 years.
He said they were not worried by the growth of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), representing 70% of Lonmin’s 28000 employees.
“We’ve got to look at our own affairs such as recruiting and servicing of our members. We can’t be worried about other unions,” he said.
Amcu was recognised as a majority union at Impala Platinum and at Sibanye Gold’s Driefontein mine last week.
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