UPDATE 1-Union to strike at Sibanye-Stillwater's South African gold operations
(Adds detail, background)JOHANNESBURG, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Sibanye-Stillwater said on Monday that the Association of Mineworkers andConstruction Union (AMCU) planned to strike on Wednesday at itsSouth African gold operations after wage agreement talks brokedown.
Sibanye-Stillwater, which had signed a three-year wageagreement with three other labour unions, said AMCU represents43 percent of its workforce of 32,200 at its South African goldoperations.
Gold producers in Africa's most industrialised economy haveargued that above-inflation wage hikes have added to the costburden in the bullion industry, which has been hit by depressedprices and labour unrest. South Africa's inflation stood at 4.9percent in September. Sibanye agreed to a three-year wage agreement with theNational Union of Mineworkers (NUM), Solidarity and UASA lastweek ending months of negotiations. Sibanye said it would not be increasing its offer to AMCUand would not pay striking workers. It also said it could notyet predict the impact of any strike on its output.
AMCU officials were not immediately able to comment.
(Reporting by Tanisha HeibergEditing by James Macharia)
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