Platinum Wage Talks “a Tragedy that Has to Play Itself Out”

Speaking to Mineweb, John Brand, a labor law expert and partner at Bowman and Gillfilan, said that South Africa’s Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union and major miners Lonmin plc (LSE:LMI), Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. (OTCMKTS:IMPUY) and Anglo American Platinum Ltd. (OTCMKTS:AGPPY) now have “no choice but to let the [wage talks] scenario play itself out to the detriment of all involved.”

As quoted in the market news:

Brand told Mineweb there will be no winner and the big three producers, Anglo American platinum, Lonmin and Impala Platinum and Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) will all lose spectacularly.

In his view, the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration could have done no more to bring about a settlement in the negotiation process because Amcu’s demands have been extreme.

Another problem, according to Brand was that the CCMA had continued to try and mediate for so long that it gave credibility to what he referred to as AMCU’s bad faith bargaining, giving workers hope that they could achieve their unrealistic demands.

‘It’s a tragedy that has to play itself out. There is no other way and it will mean a massive defeat for AMCU and massive harm for the platinum industry which will result in huge job losses,’ he said.

Click here to read the full Mineweb report.