Beatrix mine's production impacted by industrial action - Gold Fields
miningweekly.com
By: Matthew Hill
Published on 6th June 2008
Illegal industrial action at JSE-listed gold producer Gold Fields's Beatrix mine, which started late on Thursday, has been called off, spokesperson Andrew Davidson said on Friday.
The gold miner had lost two shifts at its Beatrix mine’s four shaft, in the Free State, after about 1 300 workers embarked on a sit in protest.
The workers refused to return to the surface when they were supposed to, at lunch-time on Thursday, which the company regarded as illegal industrial action. Gold Fields gave the striking miners a mandate to come up by 09:00, or face suspension.
Solidarity spokesperson Reint Dykema told Mining Weekly Online that 100 of the union’s members were held underground against their will.
Davidson said in a telephonic interview that all employees were “safe and well”.
The company, however, would be looking to take legal action against the instigators.
He said that a group representing National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) members had made some demands, which included the reengagement of some workers who had been dismissed up to five years ago.
NUM spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka said that the union had tried to persuade the workers to come up, but they refused to, until mine management agreed to their demands.
Davidson could not give exact figures of production losses, and pointed out that the rest of Gold Fields’ Beatrix mine was producing at normal levels. |
