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Platinum miner Lonmin’s (LON:JSE) has signed an agreement to end a nearly four-week platinum-mine strike, but key parties didn’t participate, undermining the government-backed attempt put an end to a violent labour dispute that has left 44 people dead.
Non-unionized workers and a key union whose support is essential to ending the action have refused to sign, reports Agence France.
“The intention of the peace deal is so that there is normality back in Marikana,” said Lesiba Seshoka, a spokesman for the National Union of Mineworkers, the mainstream union, which accepted the deal.
Mediator Bishop Jo Seoka said a key union, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) also refused to go along.
“AMCU, the union that is new in that sector, was not willing to sign the peace accord,” Seoka told AFP. The AMCU declined to explain why it didn’t join the agreement, but said it would speak Friday about the decision.
Unrest has reached other mines in South Africa, including some in the gold sector, where thousands of workers in the Johannesburg area remain on strike demanding higher wages.
The country’s mining sector, which accounts for 6% of gross domestic product, has been repeatedly hit by disputes over low wages that reflect widespread anger over enduring inequalities in the economy.
Image, Police open fire on South African Miners, AlJazeeraEnglish, Youtube
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