Gold mining giant, Gold Fields on Wednesday said employees based at its Tarkwa and Damang mines in  Ghana had gone on an illegal strike.

Gold Fields, which has a 90 percent interest in these mines, said production at both mines had been halted. It did not release the number of workers that had gone on strike.

This strike came shortly after the representative trade unions in the mines threatened industrial action if the company failed to respond favourably to the demands within 24 hours.

“Workers demand profit share payments to employees, the unconditional reinstatement of an employee who was dismissed following an internal disciplinary procedure and the dissatisfaction with certain management structures,” Gold Fields said in a statement.

“Worker demands also include the removal of certain members of senior management, concerns about catering delivery models and allegations of discrimination between expatriate and Ghanaian employees.”

Gold Fields said it was urgently reviewing and probing these claims. It called on all employees to keep law and order while this process is on-going.

Gold Fields believes the labour action is illegal and unprotected, exposing workers to the no-work, no-pay rule and dismissal.

Gold Fields is a gold producer with attributable annualised production of 2.1 million gold equivalent ounces from six operating mines in Australia, Ghana, Peru and South Africa.

Gold Fields also has a diverse global growth pipeline with four major projects at resource development and feasibility level.

Gold Fields International has total managed gold-equivalent mineral reserves of 64 million ounces and mineral resources of 155 million ounces.

The company is listed on the JSE (primary listing), the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), NASDAQ, Dubai Limited, Euronext in Brussels (NYX) and the Swiss Exchange (SWX).