Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union [SEP] location of formation
Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union
The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) was formed in Mpumalanga, South Africa, in 1998 as a breakaway faction of the COSATU-affiliated National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). It was formally registered as a union in 2001. According to Mining Weekly, the union sees itself as distinct from NUM in that it is "apolitical and noncommunist".
Competition with NUM over bargaining rights, especially at the Impala Platinum and Lonmin mines in the Rustenburg area culminated in the
, over 1,000 striking miners again protested at the mine and reiterated their demands for increased pay. There were dozens of police at the mine, while a helicopter hovered above the protesters.
Despite an agreement between the National Union of Mineworkers and the mine, a majority of the 3,000 striking members from the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union continued to stay away from work. NUM's General-Secretary Frans Baleni said that a "high level of intimidation" had stopped other miners from returning to work. "The workers are