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October 25, 2012

Fired South  African workers
Fired South  African workers continue
protests.

Fired South African Mine Workers Continue Rallies

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from GIN
(TriceEdneyWire.com) --- Workers at Anglo American Platinum in South Africa are continuing to hold rallies despite being fired Friday by the Johannesburg-based metals company. The “unofficial” strike, not approved by the South African labor federation, Cosatu, began Sept. 12.

The miners said their demand for a salary of R16,070 ($1,836 monthly) would continue and said the ball was in Amplats’ court to raise their wage and stop the strike.

“Amplats”, as Anglo American Platinum is called, describes itself as the world’s leading primary producer of platinum group metals, accounting for approximately 40 percent of the world’s newly mined platinum.

At least three people have died since the strike began at Amplats. Workers at Amplats walked out a week before the end of the Lonmin strike in Marikana, where 45 people were killed.

Some workers threatened to use violence to force mine management to rehire them.

"If they are not willing to talk to us, many things will be burnt starting from today," said Hendrick Mpondo, 27. "Right now some of the workers are planning to go and burn the smelters."

Amplats said the strike had spread to its Union and Amandelbult mines. Unrest has been reported in the gold, diamond, coal and iron ore sectors in what media has called a “mining meltdown.”

Pressure is building on President Jacob Zuma, who has publicly kept his distance from the crisis, to call for an end to the strikes.

"We should not seek to portray ourselves as a nation that is perpetually fighting," he told business leaders in Johannesburg on Friday.

But this has not satisfied corporate heads.

"The government is doing nothing," complained Peter Attard Montalto, a strategist with Japanese bank Nomura, who warned the strikes had already shaved 0.2 percent to 0.3 percent off third-quarter growth.

Striking workers’ committee member Thebe Maswabi said Amplats should focus more “on how to end the strike and not pour fuel on the flame by firing workers.”

“We’re talking about workers who are now very angry that they've been dismissed for no offense but demanding a salary raise which they deserve,” he said.

Meanwhile, the new display of militancy by the mineworkers is setting off a chain reaction in other sectors where workers are unhappy about low wages and benefits. South Africa’s Municipal Workers Union this week announced plans for a national strike for pay equal to the private sector, while thousands of truck drivers are striking for annual wage increases of 12 percent for two years.

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