The AMCU strike at Implats is closer to reality as the mining workers association voted to strike on Monday.
However, although the members voted to strike, the association said that it is not going to immediately give the company the required 48-hour notice.
“Yes, we got the mandate, they voted for the strike,” Jimmy Gama, spokesman for South Africa’s Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, told Reuters. “But we are not in a rush to serve them notice, we want to clear up and discuss some issues first.”
Impala Platinum officials weren’t available for comment, but a company spokesman said earlier that the sides were “far apart with respect to wages and need to find innovative measures to close this gap.”
“We remain hopeful that we could still find a win-win resolution through engagement,” the spokesman added.
“The fact that AMCU was not immediately serving the company with the required 48-hour notice of a strike suggested the union wanted to find a solution but could now negotiate from a position of strength, since its workers backed the idea of a stoppage,” according to Reuters.
South Africa, Africa’s biggest economy, is in a delicate position after production stoppages in other sectors.
A government mediator told the union that it could strike against Impala, if it gives 48-hour notice, last week.
Implats has offered the lowest-paid workers increases of at least 8 percent for 2014 and annual raises of 7 percent the following two years, while the union wants the minimum pay to more than double for entry-level miners to 12,500 rand, or $1,300 a month.
Implats produced millions of ounces of platinum last year and works in South Africa and Zimbabwe. It employs about 63,000 people.
