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City Press reports that more than 1,500 mine workers at Gold Fields’ South Deep mine on the West Rand could spend the festive season with no work after talks between the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the mine deadlocked.
The mine announced in August it would be retrenching 1,102 permanent workers and 460 contractors. Having undergone the procedural consultation processes, the parties failed to agree on a way forward and it now seems unavoidable that jobs will be lost. When the mine issued severance notices two weeks ago, the unions announced a strike, which started two days later. Last week tension erupted and two buildings were burnt down, while there were accusations of assaults on workers trying to go to work. Mine spokesperson Sven Lunsche said that last Sunday a group of protesters attacked a protection services light-armoured vehicle transporting security employees. “The strike action is purportedly taking place to head off the retrenchments. “If the strike is prolonged, it will put the remaining 3,500 jobs at South Deep at risk,” Lunsche said, adding that before the strike the mine was losing R3 million a day. NUM branch chairperson Kanetso Matabane denied that the union was responsible for the violence. He claimed that management was not interested in minimising the number of retrenchments, saying that: “They came with the decision taken already. They consulted in bad faith.” The union has proposed that the number of contractors be minimised and overtime be managed.
- Read the full original of the report by Lesetja Malope at City Press
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page