Mining house Thistle is to dismiss about 1 400 workers at its President Steyn gold mine in the Free State, the company announced on Wednesday.
”The number of voluntary and involuntary retrenchments amounts to approximately 52 and 1 347 employees respectively, or 27% of the current workforce at the mine,” Thistle said.
”This is less than the 2 000 jobs that management initially believed might be affected and gives credit to the Section 189 [of the Labour Relations Act] consultancy process.
”After giving effect to the retrenchments, production staff has been reduced by approximately 10% in aggregate, while non-production staff has been reduced by approximately 40% in aggregate.”
The announcement follows an agreement with the National Union of Mineworkers and Solidarity.
Thistle said the retrenchments will cost it about R29-million, but will assist in restoring profitability.
As part of the agreement, certain contractors have had their contracts cancelled, while workers will revert to a six-day work week after an attempt at continuous operations proved to be not as productive as originally planned.
Should there be a need to engage employees in the future, management agreed to recall retrenched employees.
Retrenched workers will receive a month’s pay in lieu of a notice period plus payment of two weeks’ wages for every year of completed service.
Provision has also been made for retraining of employees who are subject to involuntary retrenchment. — Sapa