JODIE GINSBERG, Johannesburg | Saturday
SOUTH Africa’s Chamber of Mines said on Friday it had reached a wage agreement with miners at three collieries and one gold mine and that a coal strike scheduled for Sunday had been called off.
”The strike on…Chamber of Mines collieries by members of the NUM planned to commence on Sunday night has been called off by the union,” the Chamber said in a statement.
Chamber of Mines spokesman Frans Barker said employers and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) had agreed on a wage hike of 8% for 2001 and 7,5% for 2002. A dispute over medical benefits and meal intervals was also resolved.
Up to 18_000 coal workers had been scheduled to go on strike on Sunday after talks became deadlocked at Anglocoal, Eyesizwe and Ingwe.
Meanwhile, negotiations to avert a strike in the country’s giant gold mining industry continued on Friday afternoon, with one deal struck at the South Deep mine, owned by Western Areas and Placer Dome, the statement said.
The NUM would take the wage deal back to South Deep miners for approval, it said.
NUM spokesman Moferefere Lekorotsoane gave no details of the latest offers and said mines were making different proposals.
”They are presenting as individual mines,” Lekorotsoane said. ”Initially they spoke as one voice, but now we are down to these final issues, they are all making different offers.”
NUM members voted overwhelmingly in favour of a strike earlier this week, which would have started on Thursday, but agreed to postpone a decision after new proposals were tabled.
A prolonged strike in the gold sector could affect operations at 76 mines and the world’s biggest bullion miners AngloGold and Gold Fields.
Strike threats have hit industry across South Africa in the past week after long-term wage agreements struck in key sectors in 1999 begin to expire.
Power workers called off a three-day strike on Thursday after accepting a revised wage offer from state power utility Eskom, while workers at Iscor rejected a seven percent wage increase and said they intended to vote on strike action. – Reuters