Impala Platinum will meet with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in a bid to halt the strike at its operations, the company said on Monday.
”There will be a meeting between the parties tomorrow [Tuesday] and after that we’ll be in a better position to explain how we’re going to [proceed],” company spokesperson Alice Lourens said.
”The strike is continuing at Rustenburg and there is a full strike at Marula operations. At the Springs refinery, work is carrying on as usual.”
NUM spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka said: ”We can only hope we can find a resolution to the current impasse.”
About 20 000 workers started striking over wages at Impala Platinum’s Rustenburg mine — the largest platinum mine in the world — last Monday.
A strike at Marula began on Thursday night.
On Friday the Labour Court dismissed the company’s bid to end the strike with costs.
Initially NUM had demanded a 10% wage increase, to which the company had agreed. However, workers were now demanding 14% as well as changes to housing and transport allowances.
Impala Platinum insisted it could not allow a 14% increase.
”Fourteen percent is double consumer price inflation — all other recent wage agreements in South Africa have been between 9,5% and 10,5%,” the company said last week.
It was losing 3000 ounces in production at its Rustenburg operations every day of the strike. — Sapa