The head of the union behind the strike, Joseph Mathunjwa, said on Wednesday that workers downed tools last Friday in protest at Amplats’ plans to cut 4,800 jobs, laying off 3,300 workers and paying off the rest, as the world’s largest platinum producer and unit of Anglo American strives to restore profits. “The strike is continuing. We had marathon meetings with the employer last night and will have another tomorrow and I believe that meeting should get us closer,” Joseph Mathunjwa, president of the Association of Mine-workers and Construction Union (AMCU), told Reuters.
Mathunjwa said AMCU wanted the company to provide voluntary separation packages for older miners near retirement and spare the jobs of younger workers, which the union says will bear the brunt of the lay-offs. Much of AMCU’s membership in the platinum belt consists of younger miners.
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