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JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – South African mining contractor JIC Mining Services plans to retrench 662, or nearly 10,4% of its 6 300 employees, trade union Solidarity reported on Monday.
The retrenchment would affect 628 Category B employees and 34 Category A employees. Category A employees include, among others, officials, miners and artisans, while Category B includes employees such as operators and cleaners, the union said in a statement.
This came after the announcement by platinum producer Anglo Platinum’s Rustenburg Platinum Mines (RPM) that the contract with JIC would not be renewed. The contract expires at the end of December and all the employees who could be affected by the planned retrenchments currently work at RPM’s Tumela West and Central mines.
Solidarity said that JIC management had already indicated that everything possible would be done to avoid the planned retrenchment. Transfers were currently being considered as an alternative, but it was not yet clear how many employees would avoid retrenchment in this manner.
Solidarity spokesperson Jaco Kleynhans said that these retrenchments formed part of the large-scale job losses at Angloplat.
Solidarity claimed that JIC blamed the planned retrenchments on the recession, a dramatic decrease in commodity prices, and a lack of demand for services in the mining industry.
JIC could not immediately be reached for comment.
