JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – London-listed Lonmin has formally recognised the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) as its majority union, a move which angered smaller trade unions.

The principles of the “winner takes all” agreement, which comes a year after 34 Lonmin workers died in violent clashes with police at the Marikana mine, means that the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), Uasa and Solidarity will each have 90 days to secure an at least 51% membership, or be derecognised.

AMCU, which claims over 70% membership, will now be afforded full wage negotiation control on behalf of all Lonmin mineworkers – including those who are members of opposing unions.

Uasa divisional manager Franz Stehring told Mining Weekly Online on Wednesday that Lonmin had contacted the union telephonically on Wednesday morning to notify it of its intent to derecognise the organisation after three months.

“This boggles my mind. There is absolutely no inclusiveness in this new agreement, and we have no choice but to institute legal action,” he said.

Solidarity general secretary Gideon du Plessis described the recognition agreement as “undemocratic”, and in contrast to one of the provisions contained in the mining industry’s earlier framework agreement.

“The undemocratic principle of majority recognition was one of the main causes that led to the events at Marikana and to other violent labour unrest. The suspension of the recognition of Solidarity and other minority trade unions by Lonmin again creates a climate for continued labour unrest and deprives members of the constitutional right to freedom of association,” he said.

Du Plessis cautioned that, should Lonmin not restore Solidarity’s recognition in the workplace, it would be sacrificing sound labour relations in favour of the pressure being brought to bear on it by the majority union.

“AMCU is thus being rewarded for extortion and Lonmin will now be held permanently hostage to this extortion,” he commented.

Lonmin CEO Ben Magara, who had been personally involved in the AMCU recognition process since joining the company on July 1, said he was “delighted” to announce the signing of the employee recognition agreement.

“It has been a constructive and robust engagement in search of a win-win solution. This is key to achieving peace, stability and prosperity for all, which will enhance our recent operational performance. There is much still to do, but this is a huge step towards stability and the prosperity of all our stakeholders,” he said. 

AMCU president Joseph Mathunjwa said he acknowledged that, without cooperation, “we are all losers”. 

“As leaders, we must find a way to ensure we can move forward together in peace and stability.” 

The NUM was not immediately available for comment.