South Africa’s Solidarity trade union said on Wednesday its striking members in the coal sector had received a new wage offer from employers and it was canvassing workers to see if they would accept it.
”Yesterday evening [Tuesday] we received an offer from the chamber. We are now busy with mandating meetings with members to see if they are going to accept the offer or not,” Solidarity spokesperson Reint Dykema said.
The strike entered its third day on Wednesday after Solidarity, which represents a minority of the industry’s labour, downed tools to push for bigger pay increases at mines belonging to Anglo Coal and Exxaro.
Solidarity has said the strike has hurt output at Exxaro’s Matla mine, while the Chamber of Mines — which negotiates on behalf of the companies — said it had kept damage to a minimum by replacing absent workers.
Solidarity said about 3 000 of its 3 500 members in the coal sector had taken part in the action while the chamber put it at closer to 1 000.
South Africa is the world’s fifth biggest coal producer and relies heavily on coal as a source of electricity. It is also a key supplier of coal to Europe. — Reuters