OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday 9.00am
SOME 4500 workers at Oryx gold mine went on strike on Friday in protest at job losses, against the backdrop of falling gold price, union leaders said.
The National Union of Mineworkers called the walkout after negotiations with management over pay-out packages for 900 workers to be retrenched, deadlocked. Oryx, in the central Free State province, is one of six gold mines set to lay off 11700 workers in the wake of gold’s recent price tumble following the sale of 25 tons of gold by the Bank of England.
It is understood that NUM miners are demanding four months of severance pay for every year of service at the mine, while owners Gold Fields offered two weeks’ severance pay.
Meanwhile, Columbus Stainless said on Thursday the country’s Labour Court has granted an interim interdict against striking workers at the company’s operations in Middleburg.
More than 500 employees, members of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, embarked on a strike at Columbus on Monday following a deadlock over wages The interdict also authorises the police to assist in enforcing the court ruling.
The announcement of the Oryx strike, which was meant to start on the Thursday night shift, came as South African government officials flew to Ghana and Mali to garner support against further gold reserve auctions.
In a separate mission, NUM president James Motlatsi and Chamber of Mines head Bobby Godsell are in London to raise awareness of the impact of the auctions on the economies of African gold producers.
South Africa, which fears it could shed 80000 mining jobs, is planning to send a senior government delegation to London later. President Thabo Mbeki warned this week at the Organisation for African Unity summit in Algiers that further auctions could “destroy the gold producers.” The gold price has fallen over 10% since May and sunk to a fresh 20-year low this week, opening at $254 an ounce in Johannesburg on Thursday. — AFP