So the mines are starting to close due to increasing costs. One mans loss is another mans gain, this is a great opportunity for the trade unions to prove a point. If Amplats puts certain mines on the market, the Unions should buy them. The unions are convinced that wages are far lower than what they should be as these mines make such huge profits. If they make such huge profits they must be a great investment. So borrow the money and buy them, prove a point to these greedy capitalists.
Once ownership is achieved, they can pay the highest wages in the country. R15 000 odd was a compromise with management, so lets say start at R 20 000. Minimum - for the person who sweeps the floors (and don't dare ask her to do anything else, its her mine now!) Management will be made up of union members, but there must not be a big gap between management and labour - maybe junior at R30 000 and CEO about R50 000. I'm sure they'll find plenty of qualified okes amongst themselves, true socialists who would die for "the cause", and surely nobody in the union hierarchy earns much more than R50k a month - I mean, they're socialists, we're all more or less equal.
If profits are looking good, it will be distributed to the union members. No point in showing a profit, it just means you pay tax and the government gets part of it. Keep it in the big happy union family.
Of course everybody will be highly productive, it is now their mine, so surely they'll all be motivated. At the end of a year when there are perhaps no profits, they can simply borrow some more money. Shares won't be an option to raise capital, as the shareholders will want a share of profits - thats not the idea, you want to keep it all now. They'll never need to fire anyone, because all the workers will be so dedicated and happy.
Would be a great way to prove to us all why you guys always strike. Come on guys, take the dive, do it! According to your rhetoric it shouldn't even be a high risk venture, so you can't lose anything. Will be a very good experiment to prove once and for all what the fairest system is for us all, or at least help us in the right direction. Can't wait.
(Please just keep the safety standards high, or improve them)
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