This news aggregator site highlights South African labour news from a wide range of internet and print sources. Each posting has a synopsis of the source article, together with a link or reference to the original. Postings cover the range of labour related matters from industrial relations to generalist human resources.
AFP reports that more than 400 gold miners, who had remained underground for four days amid tensions between unions and the mine owners, returned to the surface on Monday.
The miners failed to emerge at the end of their night shift on Thursday at Gold One’s Springs operation, in a near repeat of a three-day protest in October. The miners all came out on Monday. Rescue teams helped several injured back up, Gold One’s head of legal affairs, Ziyaad Hassam reported. "We've got a lot of work to do with the unions to make sure it doesn't happen again," he added. Gold One said last week that a small group of balaclava-wearing employees had taken fellow workers "hostage", preventing them from returning to the surface. But the company and miners later said a majority appeared to have deliberately remained underground as part of a protest. One worker said conditions below ground had become unbearable, after four days with little food, leading the miners to end their protest. In October, a dispute over union representation at the mine led to more than 500 workers being trapped underground for almost three days. Some miners told AFP they wanted their union of choice, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), to be officially recognised. Disciplinary hearings over that incident led to the dismissal of about 50 workers.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Fin24
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page