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Labor unrest continues to rattle mining industry in South Africa
Meanwhile the strike at Lonmin clocked one month on Monday as ten thousand platinum miners marched and chanted songs against President Jacob Zuma.
Just slightly over six percent of the workers turned up for the job on Monday as strikers muscled into mine shafts to force them to shut.
Michael Kahabo, a mine worker, said they want all work at the mine to shut down. “It’s a small percentage but they must stop working, to join the strike.”
Wage talks due to start on Monday had to be adjourned as mediators waited for non-unionised workers’ representatives to show up, said Lonmin spokeswoman Sue Vey.
One leader reached by phone said they were not ready to attend the talks until there was a guarantee that demands for a threefold increase in pay would be discussed.
They also refused to sign a “peace” deal last Thursday when Lonmin management and most unions agreed to restore calm.
“If they say we are going talk about money, yes we will go. But if it’s this peace accord, we don’t have anything to do with the peace agreement because we don’t benefit from it,” Molisi Phele told reporters.
