A spokesman for Glencore’s South African operation, Gugulethu Maqetuka, told Bloomberg that the strike by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) at the Koornfontein coal mine began October 17.
The workers have cited a compensation package offered for planned job cuts for its strike, he said.
“[It] follows the decision by the company to offer retrenchment packages to employees as a result of restructuring at the mine, following difficult market conditions,” Maqetuka told Bloomberg.
According to the union’s statement on the issue, Glencore offers more compensation elsewhere. “NUM is embarking on a strike because Glencore is paying NUM members at Koornfontein mine one week of service per year and in other operations it is paying three weeks,” NUM officials reportedly said.
Additionally, union Regional Secretary Stanley Lebelo told Bloomberg that the NUM will apply for a second strike at other Glencore operations.
Meanwhile, Maqetuka said the miner is making an effort to help its soon-to-be-displaced workers. “Glencore is exploring the redeployment of some of the employees to other Glencore Coal operations where vacancies exist,” he said.
