Harmony Gold, NUM reach deal on Free State restructuring

摘要

London--South African gold miner Harmony Gold Mining last week signed an agreement with the National Union of Mineworkers over implementation of job-loss avoidance measures as part of the restructuring of its Free State operations, the South African miner said Jul 19, adding that around 7,000 jobs could be saved under terms of the deal. On May 19 Harmony served a lay-off notice of 60 days on several of its Free State shafts at its South African operations; at the time the company said that the process, which could affect as many as 11,780 people, was required as an ongoing response to the lower rand gold price. continued operating losses, ailing reserves and a need for right-sizing. The agreement with the MUM marks the culmination of a 60-day consultative process "during which every possible avenue to reduce the numbers of employees affected by the restructuring, and the amount of production lost, has been investigated," the company said. Harmony now has agreements with all major unions represented at its Free State operations, having previously reached agreements in principle with the other two unions, UASA and Solidarity, on Jun 21. Under the MUM agreement, to be implemented from Jul 20 to Aug 5, the key methods to be employed to minimize the number of people affected are: replacement of non-specialized contractors; transfer of employees to vacancies in other parts of Harmony's South African operations; the opening of voluntary retrenchments for the period starting Jul 19, 2005, and ending Aug 5, 2005; and the implementation of CONORS [continuous operations] at the Tshepong, Bambanani and Masimong 5 shafts, Harmony said.