Friday, October 05, 2012

Anglo American Platinum Fires 12,000 Striking Workers in South Africa

Amplats fires 12,000 workers

Oct 5, 2012
Allan Seccombe
Business Day Live

Anglo American Platinum has dismissed 12,000 workers engaged in an illegal strike for not attending disciplinary hearings

Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) has dismissed 12,000 workers engaged in an illegal strike for not attending disciplinary hearings conducted during the week.

Amplats, the world’s largest platinum miner, has reported attendance at its Rustenburg mines of below 20% and it said on Friday work had stopped at its Union and Amandelbult mines in Limpopo, where strike action had spread.

Workers who reported for disciplinary hearings during the week will be told of the outcome of those hearings on Friday and will have three days to appeal against the decisions, the company said.

Amplats has lost 39,000oz of platinum production in the three-week illegal strike at a cost of R700m in lost revenue. Striking workers are demanding a R16,000 per month basic salary.

"The company is committed to participating in the platinum centralised engagement structures driven by the Chamber of Mines as well as exploring the possibility of bringing forward wage negotiations within our current agreements," Amplats CEO Chris Griffith said.

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