Miners at the Sonop diamond mine in the Northern Cape will picket outside company headquarters in Wolmaransstad, North West, on Friday, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said.
Workers are unhappy about certain payments owed to them, NUM spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka on Thursday.
Seshoka said workers at the mine’s Site One had not been paid since January 24. The union demanded they be paid immediately, and to know their employment status.
The NUM also demanded that retrenched workers be fully paid and that money deducted from pay through poor management be paid back.
Money had been docked from some workers’ pay who had been present, ”but the clocking system failed to capture their presence at work. This should also be done with immediate effect,” Seshoka said.
Other demands include the full payment of annual leave, adherence to skills development and employment-equity Acts, proper accommodation and an end to racial discrimination.
However, mine spokesperson Arno de Villiers said no one would be available to receive the memorandum on Friday.
”There was a march that was planned for March 1. We sent someone to receive the memorandum, but the march never took place … We told them [the NUM] that no one will be available to receive the memorandum,” he said.
He said there are procedures to follow if employees have money mistakenly deducted from their pay, adding that retrenched workers will be paid by next week. — Sapa