THE process of verifying mine workers from Gold One Mine in Springs, Ekurhuleni has begun.
The mine head of legal, Ziyaad Hassam, told Daily Sun on Friday, 12 January, that they have received more than 1 000 forms from Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) officials of the miners who want to join the union.
He said the verification process is done through the CCMA and the mine will be able to check how many of the mineworkers are still employed.
"Once the process of verification is done, the workers will be urged to hand over the resignation from the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM)," said Hassam.
He confirmed that a total of 445 workers have been dismissed while 104 workers are still undergoing disciplinary hearings.
"So, we have received 67 appeals from the workers who have been dismissed. At this stage, we don't know if they will represent themselves or by NUM union during the appeal hearings," said Hassam.
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A mine worker said he's still on suspension since October 2023 and he's worried about the situation at the mine.
"People are being fired left and right. This has caused pain to many of us. I'm also worried that I'd soon be fired via SMS just like other workers," he said.
He said it's sad that the company has fired and suspended people for fighting for their rights.
"We never killed anyone. All we wanted was to ask the mine to recognise Amcu because we were fed up with NUM who failed to fight for the workers' rights. Sadly, people are now without jobs, and they have families who were depending on the salaries we get from the mine," he said.
The workers said since they were suspended, they were told to sign every day at the mine and were paid in October and November.
"In December, some of our colleagues were not paid. Just imagine the pain and trauma they went through. They couldn't buy food for their children and pay their bills," he said.
The mine has been facing troubles since October 2023, when it was affected by protests, hostage drama, the assault of workers, and underground sit-ins.
The workers demanded the company to recognise Amcu as their new union.
They alleged that NUM was not fighting for their rights.
In October and December, they hosted sit-ins underground and in November, NUM consciously and deliberately decided to terminate the close-shop agreement at Modder East Gold One Mine in Springs.
NUM reportedly took a responsible decision to safeguard the jobs and save the lives of innocent workers.
