From Tuesday (July 16), the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) will lose the benefits and facilities associated with a majority-status union at Lonmin, after an application to prevent the company from terminating the recognition agreement failed.
The Labour Court ruled against the NUM on Monday and Lonmin will from Tuesday withdraw the recognition and benefits of full-time branch representatives and full-time shop stewards, as well as offices and transport facilities.
The ruling places the NUM’s rival, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), in the driving seat at Lonmin, whose spokeswoman, Sue Vey, said the NUM would be “derecognised” as the majority union. It lost thousands of its members to the Amcu at Lonmin during August and September last year.
In April, Lonmin gave the NUM formal notice of its intention to withdraw the benefits and facilities previously granted to it on the basis of its majority status. NUM has cited intimidation and violence directed at its members as the reason for the shift in allegiance to Amcu.
Lonmin has been trying to conclude a recognition agreement with Amcu for the category 4-9 bargaining unit in accordance with its majority status. They have failed to reach agreement and the matter is set to go to arbitration on July 29.
NUM last week brought an urgent Labour Court application to stop the termination of the recognition agreement it had with Lonmin, pending the outcome of a dispute it had referred to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) on the same day. The CCMA referral claimed Lonmin transferred the NUM’s members to Amcu in contravention of the recognition agreement.
Labour Court judge Robert Lagrange on Monday struck the case off the roll for lack of urgency. He said he was satisfied that the NUM’s predicament was a result of it not exercising its rights in good time last year when it should have been apparent that it was losing members at an alarming rate.
NUM spokesman Lesiba Seshoka said this was minor setback for the union.
Platinum producer Lonmin hit international headlines last August following the Marikana miners’ strike, in which over 100 disgruntled employees were shot (34 fatally) by South African police.
