The South African mining saga continues to unfold, as Coal of Africa reports an end to strikes, while Xstrata and Anglo Gold Ashanti see the situation worsen.
Coal of Africa (CoAL) announced on Friday that a pay package deal has been reached between the junior coal producer and its striking workforce at the Mooiplaats colliery, bringing to an end the actions at the colliery which began over a month ago on September 25th.
The collier announced that the labour force today returned to work in response to the agreement, which sees workers receive a 26 percent pay increase. Provisions are also included for medical insurance, housing allowances, and provisions specific to shift and underground labour.
Meanwhile, diversified miner Xstrata announced on Friday that it has fired 400 workers – of its 619 work force – at its Kroondal chrome mine, following protracted illegal strike actions that began on October 25th. Workers at the Kroondal operations continued to strike over internal disciplinary procedures that they challenged, and ignored deadlines to return to work issued to them by management prompting the dismissals today.
The company added that miners may appeal the terminations today, but the producer now has limited output from its Kroondal mine due to the severely restricted presence in its work force.
In yet another twist on Friday, Anglo Gold Ashanti has also announced a stoppage to production at the gold miner’s TauTona operations, as workers down tools and stage an underground sit-in in demands for bonus pay. Talks have commenced, with management attempting negotiations with the 300 workers who remain underground.
This latest sit-in comes only days after Anglo Gold celebrated the end to strikes at its Mponeng operations on Thursday, following drawn-out halts to output which has also caused deterioration within the mine’s infrastructure. The company is undertaking repairs in order to resume production at Mponeng as soon as possible.
