Mining company Harmony will retrench 11 780 workers by the end of July, Harmony’s marketing director said on Friday.
Ferdi Dippenaar said Harmony served notice on Friday to trade unions in the company about the retrenchments.
”Workers at the Free State marginal shafts in the Virginia-Welkom area will be affected,” said Dippenaar.
He said the retrenchments are a continuation of the restructuring process in the Free State that began in April last year.
”The whole process was delayed due to the inability of the company [Harmony] and the National Union of Mineworkers to reach an agreement on a restructuring process,” Dippenaar added.
”The bulk of the employees involved in the process have not been involved in productive operations since then [April last year].”
Dippenaar said the retrenchments will allow Harmony to restructure the shafts to profitability.
Responding to the retrenchments, Solidarity spokesperson Dirk Hermann said: ”The workers are now on the receiving end of an unsuccessful bid by Harmony to take over Gold Fields. It’s sad that workers need to pay for this rather than the management of Harmony.”
He said the shareholders of Harmony and Gold Fields have lost R40-billion in share value since Harmony made its bid to take over Gold Fields last October, and it is time for Harmony shareholders to get rid of Bernard Swanepoel and his management team.
”A crisis conference where all the role players in the mining industry can look at ways to save what is left of the industry needs to arranged,” added Hermann.
Dippenaar said Harmony would welcome a crisis conference. He said there is a need for all role players to talk about what is necessary. — Sapa