A week of industrial actions against AngloGold Ashanti by miners aligned with ICEM affiliate Ghana Mineworkers’ Union (GMWU) was avoided late last month when the union and company came to a Memorandum of Understanding that settles a three-year dispute over an Employee Share Ownership Plan (ESOP).

The dispute dates back to November 2006, when Ashanti Goldfields fully merged with South Africa-based AngloGold. Then, GMWU proposed an ESOP for Ashanti staff at the Obuasi and Iduapriem gold mines who did not receive a US$1,000 “goodwill package” at the time of the merger.

AngloGold refused to take up the proposal, resulting in a two-and-a-year stalemate. In October 2008, the two sides resumed talks on the ESOP with GMWU giving the negotiations process six months to produce an ESOP. By 24 April, when Ghana management of the mining house still would not move toward ESOP parity for the Ghana miners with their South Africa counterparts, GMWU issued a press release calling it “morally wrong for AngloGold Ashanti to discriminate in its employee relations,” and stating a week of protests would result.

But on 28 April, the two sides, meeting in Accra, agreed to an ESOP called for the 5,000 affected miners to receive 20 shares each of AngloGold stock, to be paid across four years in five-share increments. The first such award was made in May 2009.

In a joint statement, GMWU General Secretary Prince William Ankrah and company Vice President for Ghana, Keith Faulkner, said: “We are very pleased that this matter has been finalised. We see it as an important further step towards improved cooperation between the company and the union which we are convinced will advance the interests of both the company’s employees and its shareholders.”