Ruling brings final certaintly on binding nature of the extended 2013 wage agreement.

The Chamber of Mines, acting on behalf of gold producers AngloGold Ashanti, Harmony and Sibanye, welcomes the ruling by the Constitutional Court in favour of the gold producers.

The ruling relates to the decision by the Labour Court on 23 June 2014 to uphold the interim order issued on an urgent basis by the Labour Court in January 2014, preventing Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) from embarking on protected strike action in respect of wages and other conditions of service on the basis that AMCU was bound by the collective agreement reached for the period 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2015.

At the time the agreement was reached, AMCU represented 17% of employees in the sector. The agreement was extended by AngloGold Ashanti, Harmony and Sibanye to AMCU and its members in terms of Section 23(1)d of the Labour Relations Act.

Speaking on behalf of the Chamber of Mines, Dr Elize Strydom said: “This ruling brings final certainty about the binding nature of the extended 2013 wage agreement reached at a centralised level by way of an inclusive process.”