Lonmin's strike ends, Amplats braced for trouble
JOHANNESBURG – A two-day wildcat strike at Lonmin's South African platinum mines ended on Thursday, but a union official said workers might walk out at larger rival Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) to protest company plans to axe thousands of jobs.
Lonmin shares jumped more than 3% after the world's third-largest platinum producer said 86% of its workers had reported for duty, easing fears of prolonged unrest at the mine, the epicentre of months of industry turmoil last year that hit growth in Africa's largest economy.
However, Amplats was down 0.8% amid reports of a possible strike to try to block the company's plans to shed 6 000 jobs in a restructuring designed to return the firm to profitability.
Jimmy Gama, national treasurer of the Association of Mining and Construction Union (AMCU), said there had been no call for a strike at Amplats.
However, another AMCU official, who did not want to be named, told Reuters a walkout was on the cards if Amplats, a unit of global mining giant Anglo American, stuck to its restructuring plans.
"We have said by tomorrow we can have a strike if they do not want to change," the offical said.
Amplats spokeswoman Mpumi Sithole said the company had received no notification of an intent to strike.
More than 50 people have been killed - including 34 shot dead by police - in more than 12 months of mining unrest stemming from a vicious turf war between AMCU and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).
NUM, a close ally of the ruling African National Congress, had enjoyed a near monopoly in the sector but started to bleed members two years ago, as a belief took hold that its leaders had become lazy and too close to management.
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