/ 29 May 2010

NUM suspends De Beers strike plans

South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said on Saturday it would suspend a strike at the world’s biggest diamond producer De Beers while it considers a new company wage offer that could end the dispute.

“If they put it in a formal wage agreement it is likely that we will accept … although we still have to consult our members,” NUM spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka said.

The strike, which had been due to start on Sunday at all of the company’s operations in the country, will be pushed back three days following the new offer made by De Beers late on Friday, Seshoka told Reuters.

“The strike will be suspended to see if we can reach an agreement on Monday. We want De Beers to put it all in a formal wage agreement before cancelling the strike completely,” Seshoka told Reuters.

“If we can’t reach a formal wage agreement, we will strike from Wednesday,” he said.

In its latest offer De Beers, 45% owned by global miner Anglo American, proposed raising wages by between 9,5 to 10% and said it was confident of a deal. The union had originally asked for 15%.

“We sought to find common ground with the NUM negotiating team and we have reached that point,” Wayne Smerdon, De Beers’ industrial relations head, said in a statement.

The NUM strike threat was the latest in a series of recent wage disputes in which unions have pressed for increases far above the inflation rate of 5,1%, something which economists say might hamper South Africa’s recovery from its first recession in 17 years.

A three-week strike at logistics group Transnet, which ended on Thursday, paralysed ports and railways and dented exports and imports in Africa’s biggest economy with economists estimating losses at above R7-billion.

Labour federation Cosatu, a powerful ally of the African National Congress with nearly two million members, has said it may strike during the Soccer World Cup over power price hikes if authorities fail to lower the tariffs.

The ANC dismissed the threats of a national strike.

De Beers said the settlement to its dispute would affect 1 587 out of the company’s total 5 500 workers in South Africa.

The company reported a strong first quarter to the end of March with sales five times the level of last year, but is still cautious about the global recovery.

De Beers, which controls about 40% of the rough diamond market, was hit hard during the downturn as consumers shied away from luxury goods. – Reuters