A 48-hour lockout notice issued to striking miners at Modikwa Platinum mine in Limpopo is a management strategy to push for a settlement, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said on Thursday.
The lockout, which takes effect on Thursday at 4pm, means that all NUM members will be locked out of Modikwa’s premises until the union accepts the company’s demand for continuous operations (Conops).
NUM spokesperson Onis Serothwane said the union had received a clear mandate from its members to oppose Conops at the mine.
He said the continuous working week contravened the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and the Mines Act.
Serothwane said the NUM will meet mine management under the auspices of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration on Friday.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), to which NUM is affiliated, condemned the lockout.
”We demand that this lockout threat be lifted immediately and that the employers engage in genuine negotiations to end the strike,” Cosatu said in a statement.
Cosatu also demanded that the mine drops its proposal for Conops.
Mine spokesperson Francis Petersen said he will comment later on Thursday.
The 3 000 miners have been on strike for 21 days, costing the mine an estimated R100-million in revenue. — Sapa