Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union

The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union ( AMCU ) ( German: " Association of miners and construction workers 'union " ) is a South African miners' union. It was founded in the province of Mpumalanga in 1998 and is recognized as an official union since 2001. Its chairman is President Joseph Mathunjwa, it has about 50,000 members and receives about 700,000 monthly margin on membership fees.

History

The AMCU has split off in 1998 as an independent association of the National Union of Mineworkers. During the first formative years there were mostly miners from the coalfields of the Mpumalanga Highveld and from which overran by the NUM to AMCU. The headquarters of the AMCU located in Witbank. It is considered the more radical of the two unions and bills itself as " independent of government and anti- communist ." The AMCU is not a member of COSATU, the umbrella organization of South African Trade Unions, which maintains a so-called tripartite alliance with the African National Congress and the South African Communist Party.

Miners' strike in 2012

A competition between the rival unions NUM and AMCU to tariff payments since the beginning of 2012 leading to a bitter and bloody labor disputes, particularly in the mines of the so-called Bushveld Complex near Rustenburg.

On August 22, 2012, the strike of the region reached around Rustenburg on to other areas. For the first time workers in a South African mining company ( mine Rasimone, Royal Bafokeng Platinum) were prevented by supporters of AMCU from proceeding with their work, whereas previously only foreign companies such as Impala Platinum and Lonmin were affected. The stronger members NUM refuses to take part in the strikes and relies on the recently concluded collective agreements.