Saturday, August 25, 2012

South African Mineworkers at Bafokeng Platinum Mine End Strike

S. African mine workers end strike and return to work

Fri Aug 24, 2012 3:22PM GMT
presstv.ir

Workers of the Royal Bafokeng Platinum Mine have ended their three-day strike and returned to work after reaching an agreement with management.

The workers eneded their action after a deal was struck between the Royal Fafokeng and the striking miners.

This comes days after 44 people including two police officers lost their lives in clashes between police and workers at the Lonmin Platinum Mine.

“The delegation of workers made a formal list of demands, among them the 12,500 rands wage increase… It was agreed that those issues are going to be resolved inside the normal structures and the company is not in a position to negotiate. All the parties are bound with a wage agreement until June 2014,” AFP quoted a mining official as saying on Friday.

Under the compromise, the company also agreed to give a feedback to the miners after a 14-day working period is observed.

Meanwhile, the US-based Human Rights Watch has blamed the country’s worsening poverty, increasing social inequality, low wages, and poor social services for the recent violent strikes and protests in South Africa.

South Africa is home to nearly 80 percent of the world’s platinum reserves.

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