Johannesburg | Monday
TWO of South Africa’s largest unions on Monday said some 65_000 members are two go on strike Wednesday and Thursday at mining companies and the country’s giant steel manufacturer.
National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) spokesman Moferefere Lekorotsoana said the union had issued a 48-hour notice of mass action at the Goldfields, Harmony and Durban Roodepoort Deep mines in central South Africa’s gold producing region.
The strike will involve 50_000 members, he said.
“We will definitely strike, unless they (the South African Chamber of Mines) come to us with something to discuss,” Lekorotsoana told the South African news agency SAPA.
The strike announcement, which is to start on Wednesday, follows failed attempts by the NUM and the Chamber of Mines on Friday to reach an agreement on wages and annual leave.
The unions are demanding from the Chamber a R2_000 rand ($244) monthly minimum wage and 30 days annual leave.
Since 1994, more than 135_000 workers have lost their jobs through retrenchments in the gold-mining industry alone. On Thursday, 15_000 members of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) are to go on strike at three plants belonging to steel giant Iscor, following a breakdown in wage negotiations.
Spokesman Dumisa Ntuli workers will down tools at the Vanderbijl Park and Vereeniging plants, south of Johannesburg, and at Newcastle in the KwaZulu-Natal province.
He said wage talks had collapsed and the parties had exhausted all legal possibilities to resolve the impasse. He said the company offered workers a wage increase of 7%, while the union is demanding a raise of 15% across the board. – AFP