The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), which represents 30% of nearly 100,000 gold miners in South Africa, has refused the pay increase of 13% offered by gold companies.
Bloomberg reported that the members of the union gathered at a mass meeting held at Sibanye Gold’s Beatrix mine to consider the final wage offer decided by the producers.
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Saying that the mining industry is struggling with low prices, declining production, and rising costs, other producers such as AngloGold Ashanti and Harmony Gold offered wage increases of up to 17%.
Reuters quoted Sibanye Gold CEO Neal Froneman as saying to reporters: "The appetite generally for a strike or anything similar to what happened in platinum is not very high at these sort of offer levels."
Earlier, the union said it would seek wage of ZAR12,500 ($989) per month for workers who earn around ZAR6,000.
The union consulted members on Sunday regarding the proposed wage hike.
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By GlobalDataEntry-level workers have been offered an extra ZAR1,000 ($78) a month by Sibanye Gold and AngloGold in addition to a 17.5% rise.
The lowest-paid workers have been offered ZAR500 ($39) a month from Harmony Gold and a share of 5% from profits that are generated every quarter, the news agency reported.
