Key points
- The agreement runs retroactively from June 1, 2026, to May 31, 2029, with a 4.5% raise in year one and CPI-linked floors of 3.5% and 3% after.
- Striking employees are expected back at work from Oct. 9; East Boulder workers ratified matching terms on Sept. 30.
- The deals shift incentives from rock-breaking to team-based pay, supporting Sibanye’s full mechanization plan for its US PGM operations.
Sibanye-Stillwater has confirmed that workers at its Stillwater East mine and Columbus metallurgical facility in Montana have ratified a new three-year collective bargaining agreement with the United Steelworkers, bringing a strike that began on Sept. 3 to an end.
The agreement applies retroactively from June 1, 2026, and runs to May 31, 2029. Employees are expected to resume their duties from Oct. 9, the NYSE- and JSE-listed miner said.
The deal delivers a 4.5% wage increase in the first year. In year two, workers receive the greater of 3.5% or the Consumer Price Index, and in year three the greater of 3% or CPI, giving them inflation protection through the life of the contract.
East Boulder settled first
The Stillwater East and Columbus ratification follows a similar settlement at the East Boulder mine, also in Montana, where workers approved a new USW agreement on Sept. 30. That contract took effect on Aug. 1, 2026, and runs to July 31, 2029, with identical wage terms.
Together, the two agreements cover Sibanye’s entire unionized US workforce, closing a period of labor uncertainty that stretched across the summer and into the fall.
Why the deals matter beyond wages
Sibanye framed the agreements as more than a pay settlement. According to the company, they mark an important step in implementing its plan for full mechanization of the US PGM operations.
That includes moving away from a rock-breaking incentive, a legacy of hand-held mining, toward a team-based incentive better suited to mechanized production.
In addition, the contracts modernize certain legacy benefits that the company says were out of step with the wider US market.
Those changes matter for an operation that has struggled with high costs and weak palladium prices in recent years, prompting restructuring and job cuts in 2024.
“We are pleased to have concluded multi-year collective bargaining agreements that support the long-term sustainability and competitiveness of the US PGM operations, preserving these strategic assets, in the interests of all stakeholders,” CEO Richard Stewart said.
Consequently, the settlement gives Sibanye three years of labor stability at its only primary platinum group metals mines outside Southern Africa, at a time when US policymakers are pushing to secure domestic supply of critical minerals, including palladium and platinum.
The company did not disclose the cost of the strike or any production lost during the five-week stoppage.
