Sunday, March 24, 2013

Exxaro miners to end strike: union

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African mining firm Exxaro has resolved a dispute with striking workers who will on Monday resume production, which was halted more than two weeks ago at five of its collieries, company and union officials said on Saturday.

The stoppage had threatened supply of coal to state power utility Eskom , which uses the commodity to generate 85 percent of the electricity for Africa's biggest economy. Exxaro is Eskom's second-largest coal supplier.

"The issue was resolved at midnight and all workers will return to work on Monday. The dispute was over a bonus and that bonus was granted," said National Union of Mineworkers spokesman Lesiba Seshoka.

Exxaro spokesman Hilton Atkinson confirmed a deal had been reached in the early hours of Saturday.

"At this stage it's hard to say when we will get to full production ... probably a few days after production resumes," he told Reuters.

Exxaro had said on Wednesday it could dismiss the 3,200 coal miners participating in the illegal strike if they refused to return to work by next week.

The strike turned violent earlier this week, with police firing rubber bullets at strikers at one mine.

The strike started at two mines on March 5 and spread to other operations as workers pressed for bonuses the company refused to pay because targets had not been met.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/exxaro-miners-end-strike-union-085752347--finance.html

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