South Africa: Miners Strike Deal, but Official Unions Strike Out

Strikers at a South Africa platinum mine in Marikana are celebrating the end of a five-week walkout.

Workers at the Lonmin-owned mine have won a 22 percent salary hike.

Mining strikes have gripped South Africa since last month, when police opened fire on wildcat strikers in Marikana, killing dozens.

The new deal will net Lonmin miners a new salary of up to $1,500 per month.

But mining strikes elsewhere in South Africa continue.

Today police fired tear gas and rubber bullets near an Anglo American Platinum mine called Amplats.

Reporter Gia Nicolaides is in South Africa’s mining district where she says miners are bypassing official unions.

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Aaron Schachter: I’m Aaron Schachter, this is The World. Workers at the Lonmin platinum mine Marikana, South Africa, are celebrating the end of their five-week walkout. The miners want a 22% pay raise, giving them a new salary of up to $1,500 a month. Marikana is where police opened fire on the striking miners last month, killing 34 people, but while the work stoppage there is over, mining strikes elsewhere in South Africa continue. Today, police fired tear gas and rubber bullets near an Anglo American platinum mine called Amplats. Reporter Gia Nicolaides is in South Africa’s mining district, she says Amplats workers aren’t backing down.

Gia Nicolaides: I’ve just spoken to one of the police officers who was there earlier today, and what they’ve done is they’ve arrested 22 of those miners, four of them for carrying very dangerous weapons, others for public violence. They tried to set alight a vehicle, but they at this stage are determined to keep on because the situation at the Marikana mine has turned out in a favorable position for those particular workers.

Schachter: Now, as we mentioned, the new wage will be about $1,500 a month. How does that compare to salaries in general in South Africa and to what the miners were making?

Nicolaides: Most teachers and nurses do not earn what these particular miners do, but they believe it is their right to have this type of money because they have a high risk job. Many of them are underground for most part of the day, drilling, using explosives, and they believe that they need a higher salary. What was also interesting from the London bosses here is that they’ve given them an additional 2,000 rand once-off payment if they agree to the wage agreement and return to work tomorrow morning.

Schachter: Now it sounds like the miners in this case and the mining union there got themselves a pretty good deal. What is the clout in general, do you know, of the miners unions in South Africa? And what’s the importance of the industry there?

Nicolaides: There are two major unions, mining unions, in this particular district. And that is NUM and AMCU, and they have been pointing fingers at each other from the start of this illegal action, blaming each other for stealing, you know, members, and trying to recruit more members to each particular union. The striking group decided to distance themselves from both unions and represent themselves in this matter. So they were embarking on the strike action lead by their own chosen leaders. They were marching to various shafts under the guidance of these leaders, and those particular leaders represented them in wage negotiations.

Schachter: Well that suggests then that the industry is pretty powerful and pretty important, the unions maybe not so much.

Nicolaides: It’s really a concern for the government at this stage because at least when they were part of a union things were more structured in terms of them fighting for higher wages. Now, it’s a situation of what the government calls lawlessness because they are just embarking on these illegal strikes, marching, carrying dangerous weapons. And everyone of them now looking at the Marikana miners and saying if they managed to get a 22% wage hike, what is stopping us from doing that, and we can do it on our own, we don’t need the union leaders.

Schachter: Gia Nicolaides is a reporter for Eyewitness News in South Africa. She’s in South Africa’s Marikana mining district. Gia, thank you so much.

Nicolaides: Thank you.

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