Labour unions embroiled in a wage dispute with mining company Kumba will continue strike action until their demands are met, the unions said on Tuesday.
Spokesperson for the National Union of Mineworkers at Kumba, Jackie Tshimanegape, said: ”We are still going on with the strike and we will not stop until the company comes up with something positive.”
He said the NUM and other unions were to meet with Kumba management on Wednesday to try to resolve the matter.
”The management has called us for bilateral talks … depending on the outcome, the strike might be called off.”
Trade union Solidarity, which joined the strike on Monday, said it was hoping for a speedy resolution.
”We call on to the Kumba CEO Dr Con Fauconnier to become personally and actively involved in the negotiations … this might help speed up the process,” spokesperson Reint Dykema said.
The two unions are engaged in the strike jointly with the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa and the Black Allied Mining and Construction Workers’ Union.
They downed tools on Sunday after wage negotiations with Kumba deadlocked.
The workers are demanding a 9% wage increase for higher earners and 10,5% for lower earners.
But Kumba has offered 7% for higher earners and 8% for lower earners. It has also agreed to review sick leave for workers needing time to recuperate.
However, this offer was rejected by unions, saying it fell short of their demands.
Kumba’s general manager of corporate affairs and investor relations Trevor Arran could on Tuesday morning not speculate on the impact of the strike on the company’s production.
”Production has been affected but I am not sure to what extent … I have to check with all the centres first.
”But the strike hasn’t affected delivery to our clients as yet because most mines keep a one week surplus of stock,” he said.
Arran confirmed Kumba’s Wednesday meeting with unions but he could not say if the company would meet the workers’ demands.
Mines affected are Grootegeluk, Thabazimbi, and Tsikondeni in Limpopo province, Sishen in the Northern Cape, Leeuwpan in Mpumalanga, and Glen Douglas mine near Vereeniging in Gauteng.
The company mines dolomite iron ore, coal, base metals and heavy minerals. – Sapa