Justifying value, valuing justice : pay and strikes on the Rustenburg Platinum Belt, 2012 to 2014

Abstract

Abstract: This study is an investigation into what constitutes appropriate wages for underground mineworkers in the Lonmin, Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) and Impala mines, in the Rustenburg platinum belt in South Africa. Perspectives taken into consideration in answering the research question are those of mineworkers themselves, trade union organisations and the mining houses, as they are the main stakeholders in the employment relationship. The research was conducted against the backdrop of the 2012-2014 strike waves in the platinum mining sector. In the process of what Chinguno (2015) refers to as the “unmaking and remaking of institutionalised industrial relations”, as well as Sinwell and Mbatha’s (2016) illustration of the rise of “insurgent trade unionism”, worker’s agency is seen at the forefront of challenging hegemonic industrial relations at the mines. A Marxist class analysis is adopted as the theoretical lens through which relations between mineworkers, trade unions and employers are analysed. This theoretical framework is useful in unpacking the inherently conflicting perspectives of the stakeholders on the topic of mineworkers’ wages, as each of the parties has their own interests – which differ or are in conflict with the other. Primary data was generated through semi-structured interviews between 2013 and 2015 with mineworkers and trade union officials, as well as document analysis. The main finding from the study is that the impetus of the 2012–2014 strike waves are beyond wage demands, and rather were driven by an overarching demand for justice. The explicit monetary demands of R9000 at Impala, R12500 at Lonmin and R16070 at Amplats, - as well as the uniform R12500 AMCU demand in 2014 - are therefore to be seen as signifiers of justice, as workers articulate their demands not only based on their use value, but also their compensatory value. The pay demands are therefore the means through which workers put forth their demands for justice concerning the nature of their work, as well as symbolic justice for their comrades slain during the Marikana massacre in 2012.M.A. (Industrial Sociology