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On the same day that unions reached an agreement to end the strike and return to work at Eskom’s Medupi Powerstation building site, workers at Exxaro’s Grootegeluk mine near Lephalale downed their tools.
Spokesperson for the National Union of mineworkers (NUM), Lesiba Seshoka, told Northern News the strike that started last Friday is unprotected and not initiated by NUM. According to Seshoka workers are unhappy that bonuses were not paid out at the end of February. “Exxaro asked NUM to intervene stating that bonuses were not paid because targets were not met. Workers however, say they were not informed about the said targets and are unhappy that target requirements were not communicated to them.
Exxaro wants workers to return to work before we can negotiate, but we say let’s negotiate and then workers will resume their duties.”
Exxaro Resources Limited confirmed in a statement this week that unprotected strikes are taking place at its Matla, Arnot, Grootegeluk, Leeuwpan and Inyanda mines. According to Num this translates to around 4000 workers joining the strike nationwide.
Solidariteit spokesperson, Moira Kloppers, says their members are not participating in the strike, but that the union is negotiating with Exxaro. “Workers are frustrated with Exxaro’s lack of commitment to standardise wage scales at the different mines. The unpaid bonuses are basically the last straw as we have been negotiating with Exxaro for the past three or four years about the standardisation of wages. Solidariteit believes that strike action will not resolve the issue and prefers to negotiate,” Kloppers said.
According to Exxaro’s financial director, Wim de Klerk, production has stopped at the five mines and Exxaro is engaging with unions and managing the situation to bring operations to normality as soon as possible.
“Grootegeluk mine has 14 stock days of supply for the Matimba power station and the power station has 33 days' of supply stockpiled. The mine also has reasonable supplies of coal for its other domestic and export customers,” de Klerk added.
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