News
South Africa: Industrial unrest continues as Lonmin miners walk of the job again
Striking miners at one of Gold Fields’ South Africa operations returned to work on Thursday, but there seems to be no end in sight to the industrial unrest that has rocked the country’s mining industry.
More than 80,000 miners have downed tools since August in strikes that are hitting growth and investor confidence in Africa’s biggest economy.
In a surprise action, 4,000 workers at Lonmin’s Marikana mine stayed away from work on Thursday, disrupting operations once again at the plant.
“There have been disruptions at various shafts since yesterday,” Lonmin spokeswoman Sue Vey said, adding that they did not know why the workers had downed tools. Miners had recently returned to work after being granted pay increases of up to 22 percent following a six-week strike.
Gold Fields, the world’s fourth-largest bullion producer, said all of the 9,000 workers at its Beatrix mine were now back at work after responding to a dismissal ultimatum.
More and more mining companies in South Africa have resorted to mass dismissals to tackle the strikes gripping the sector.
Around 15,000 workers have been fired in the last two weeks, although experts say it is more a hard-ball negotiating tactic than outright dismissal.
