South African trade union Solidarity has received notice from gold mining group Harmony that the group plans to shut down its Welkom 1, Elands and Merriespruit shafts.
Large-scale dismissals are also planned at the Bambanani mine, Solidarity added.
Trade unions, including Solidarity and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), have 30 days in which to respond to the planned dismissals.
At the Welkom 1 shaft the group plans to shed 540 workers. At Elands 633 workers out of a total labour force of 1 233 are to be dismissed, 951 workers at the Merriespruit 3 shaft face dismissal and 2 937 workers out of a labour force of 5 307 at the Bambanani mine are to be dismissed.
The planned retrenchments will leave 5 061 miners in the Free State unemployed in a month’s time, Solidarity said.
The latest notice sent to the trade unions is in breach of a memorandum of agreement that was concluded between Harmony and the trade unions on July 16, Solidarity said.
In the memorandum, it was agreed that 2 175 workers would receive alternative training and that 2 545 would be deployed elsewhere.
Continuous operations (Conops) were to be adopted at all Harmony’s plants in an attempt to avert job losses.
The idea behind the Conops agreement was that workers would be moved from marginal shafts to shafts where there is potential for growth.
Around 80% of all Harmony shafts have already put Conops into operation.
Workers should be given time to adapt to the new working hours, Solidarity said.
“Solidarity demands that Harmony withdraws the new dismissal notices and implements the original agreement that was concluded between the group and the trade unions,” the union said in a statement.
Solidarity also plans to support the NUM in its strike action on October 6.
“During the action no Solidarity members will do the work of striking NUM members. Solidarity is also awaiting a mandate from its members to determine whether the trade union will join the strike,” Solidarity’s national organiser Specs Vermeulen said. – I-Net Bridge