Amplats workers to strike: Union

Anglo American Platinum workers will down tools to force the firm to reconsider 3,300 retrenchments at its South African operations, a union said Tuesday.

   

"The strike is commencing on Friday morning," said Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) treasurer Jimmy Gama.

   

The top global producer on September 2 handed 3,300 employees dismissal notices as part of a restructuring, and announced earlier it would offer a further 1,600 workers voluntary severance packages.

   

Talks with unions following the announcement broke down, said Gama.

   

AMCU, which represents 40 percent of the workforce at the firm's main operations in Rustenburg northwest of Johannesburg, said few applications for severance packages had been successful.

   

"There are still applications that the company doesn't want to approve. The company is rushing to forcefully retrench workers," said Gama.

   

The stoppages would affect Rustenburg and Limpopo operations in the north of the country, he added.   

 

Amplats spokeswoman Mpumi Sithole confirmed the planned strike.    

 

"We received notice from AMCU yesterday," she told AFP in a text message.

   

The industrial action occurs amid ongoing unrest in the mining sector, which accounts for a fifth of Africa's largest economy.

   

Violent strikes spread across the industry in August 2012 after a deadly police crackdown at Lonmin's platinum mine in Marikana, where officers shot dead 34 people in one day.

   

After wage increases last year, Amplats announced 14,000 job cuts, but since then backed down under government and union pressure to limit cuts to 4,900.

   

-Sapa-AFP