About 100 000 mineworkers are to strike at Harmony and Gold Fields gold mines, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said on Wednesday.
”Gold Fields workers will this evening [Wednesday] begin with strike action following their dispute with the company on the matter of the living-out allowance,” NUM spokesperson Moferefere Lekorotsoana said in a statement.
The union is demanding a living out allowance of R1 200 to enable workers to live somewhere besides single-sex hostels, Lekorotsoana said.
He said the union will notify Harmony that its miners countrywide will down tools in solidarity with striking workers in the Free State.
”This follows the company’s bad manner of handling the dispute and strike action in the Free State that started last week,” he said.
About 21 000 miners embarked on a strike at Free State’s Harmony operations last Wednesday.
They are protesting a number of issues, including racism, non-compliance with the mining charter, housing and living-out allowances.
Lekorotsoana said Harmony has not negotiated with the union, but instead interdicted it.
The union Solidarity wanted to strike with the NUM, but was prevented by a court interdict brought by Harmony last week.
No progress in Free State talks
Meanwhile, there was no progress in talks between the NUM and Harmony Gold on Wednesday, following the strike at the company’s Free State mines.
”No progress,” Harmony spokesperson Ferdi Dippenaar said.
The union agreed that negotiations had failed again.
”There was nothing tangible presented by the employer. We may meet again tonight,” said Tanki Malefane, the NUM’s regional chairperson for the Free State.
Negotiations ended inconclusively on Tuesday afternoon after the NUM said Harmony was ”not being serious”, NUM secretary general Gwede Mantashe said.
”They [Harmony] sent some junior officer with a written letter to read to NUM. The problem with dealing with a messenger is that you can’t engage,” he said on Tuesday.
Although the gold-miner has issued notice that it wants to discuss retrenchments with the unions, it is other matters that are keeping 21 000 miners away from work, both parties said.
”We are striking over a number of issues, from racism to non-compliance with the [mining] charter,” said Mantashe. — Sapa