Advertisement
South Africa's AMCU Union, Platinum Firms Resume Wage Talks
Miners gather at Wonderkop stadium outside the Lonmin mine in Rustenburg, northwest of Johannesburg, January 30, 2014. PHOTO BY REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko
04/02/2014
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Wage talks between South Africa's AMCU union and the world's top three platinum producers resumed on Tuesday aimed at ending a nearly two-week strike that is costing the country an estimated $36 million a day.
Members of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) walked out at Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), Impala Platinum and Lonmin in January demanding monthly wages be more than doubled.
The strike has hit around 40 percent of global platinum supply.
"The strikes are currently costing the industry about 197 million rand per day," said Roger Baxter, chief operations officer at South Africa's Chamber of Mines, the main industry body.
"We estimate that the daily cost to the country is closer to 400 million rand a day."
Talks to resolve the dispute resumed in the capital Pretoria on Tuesday.
"They will meet for three days," said a spokeswoman for the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.
Government mediators said on Sunday they had made a proposal to end the strike but did not give details.
Amplats Chief Executive Chris Griffith said on Monday there might be progress by the end of this week as people "don't want this to be a protracted strike".
The government has stepped in to mediate to avoid damage to an already struggling economy and to the political standing of President Jacob Zuma and the ruling African National Congress, which faces general elections in around three months.
The producers, squeezed by soaring costs and suppressed platinum prices, say the wage demands are unaffordable and unrealistic.
Wildcat strikes in 2012 also dented profit margins and output and another drawn-out strike will hurt recovery.
Another labour group, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), walked out at Amplats refineries and smelters on Monday, but operations have not been affected, the company said.
Add new comment