Workers at diamond mining company De Beers are set to go on strike on Friday after wage talks broke down, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said on Wednesday.
“The NUM has this afternoon [Wednesday] served strike notice to diamond giant De Beers Consolidated Mines,” spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka said.
Labour law dictates that 48 hours notice be given before a strike starts.
The head of industrial relations at De Beers, Wayne Smerdon, said the company had increased its offer to 7% with an additional cash payment.
The diamond producer had initially offered a 5% increase. The NUM wanted 15%.
Smerdon said another point of conflict was the union’s demand for an “agency shop agreement” between De Beers and the union. Under such an agreement, a fee would be deducted from non-union members’ salaries so that benefits that accrue to them from union negotiations are not free.
Smerdon said such an agreement would compromise workers’ right to freedom of association.
“The NUM is disappointed by De Beers’ bad faith negotiations at a time when headline inflation is at 4.6% and Eskom has raised its fees by 31%,” Seshoka said.
Peter Bailey, the NUM’s chief negotiator at De Beers, said the offered increase and ex-gratia once off payment of R2Â 500 was “totally unacceptable”.
Smerdon said five mines would be affected in the case of a strike, but contingency plans were in place.
“It is too early to say what the extent of the strike could be.”
De Beers is the world’s largest diamond producer, with operations in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Canada. — Sapa