Thousands of miners to down tools at Implats

More than 18 000 mineworkers are set to down tools on Monday in protest against world number two platinum producer, Impala Platinum’s, refusal to budge on wage demands, said the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) on Thursday.

“Negotiations have been going on for some time and had last night hit a snag when the CCMA commissioners issued a certificate of non-resolution to the dispute to the NUM.

“The NUM started mobilising for a strike action in the early hours of this morning and would continue with the mobilisation tomorrow,” said the union in a press release.

The NUM is demanding that Impala offer its employees an across-the-board increment of 10%, while the company insists on 9,5% for the higher categories (category B and C) and 10% for category A.

The majority of the employees fall under category B and C.

The other issue is the issue of the term of the agreement.

The NUM says it needs a one-year agreement, while Impala wants a two-year agreement.

“There is no way we can accept a two-year agreement at this stage. We are already accepting lower wages of 10% because of the recession. If things get better, we should be able to negotiate something better for another period. We cannot be held to ransom by Impala,” says Eddie Majadibodu, the union’s chief negotiator at Impala.—I-Net Bridge