NUM Claims De Beers Marine Reneged on Wage Agreement

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), who has recently been engaged in wage negotiations with De Beers Marine, is crying foul, claiming that the marine mining arm of the diamond producer reneged on its agreed wage increase.

According to Independent Online, the union has declared a dispute and has said the company may face a strike at its marine mining unit. NUM negotiator Peter Bailey commented, saying that De Beers Marine “nullified all that was agreed on by arguing the agreement would be too expensive.”

He said that when the time came to sign the agreement, the company changed its offer. “We agreed to a combination of a sea-going allowance, a contract allowance and a meal allowance. We agreed to their R130 through our demand was R150.”

 “We declared a dispute with the CCMA (Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration) and our members are ready to take them on.”

De Beers was not immediately available to comment.