BL Premium reports that workers at Buffalo Coal’s Aviemore mine, located near Dundee in KwaZulu-Natal, have staged a sit-in, with some underground employees refusing to return to the surface unless their demands for salary increases were met.

The company announced in a press release on Friday that during the afternoon shift on 8 April about 130 employees refused to vacate their work stations and started unprotected strike action. Underground employees have refused to return to the surface while surface employees have refused to vacate the company’s premises unless their demands for immediate salary increases are met. Management’s efforts to convince the employees to cease their “illegal and dangerous actions” have so far been unsuccessful, the statement indicated. The company has been liaising with the recognised unions and the CCMA to secure the safe return of the workers to the surface. “It is unfortunate that some of our employees have decided not to follow recognised protocols and endanger their own and their fellow coworkers’ health and safety through their illegal actions and intimidation,” said Buffalo Coal CEO Emma Oosthuizen.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Lindiwe Tsobo at BusinessLive (paywall access only)

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page