"Exxaro has this afternoon [Tuesday] obtained the urgent interdict. It is
being served on striking employees," said spokesperson Hilton Atkinson.
The company said it approached the court in an attempt to avoid the possible
dismissal of striking workers by issuing an ultimatum.
Human resources head Retha Piater said workers were expected to return to work
by Friday.
She said a central issue was the non-payment of performance incentives, which
were not paid due to performance targets having not been met.
Workers were on a strike at the Matla, Arnot, Grootegeluk, Leeuwpan, Inyanda
and Reductants operations, some of which supply coal to Eskom power stations.
She said the striking workers did not achieve performance targets which would
have entitled them to an incentive payment, and the company was not prepared to
reward them with additional payments.
"The union's suggestion to resolve the issue of the non-payment of
performance incentives was for striking employees to receive an
across-the-board once-off payment," she said.
Instead, Exxaro put forward a proposal which included the payment of 2% of
annual salary, which would equate to a minimum of approximately R2 000.
The proposal would have been subject to striking workers returning to work.
"Although the proposal has been rejected, Exxaro is committed to continued
engagement with its recognised trade unions in order to find a win-win solution,"
she said.
NUM spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka said the strike was not called by the union.
"The strike was not called by NUM. It is led by the workers. Exxaro have
to deal with this issue at company level. The strike is illegal, but the
demands are legitimate. The company could have acceded to the workers'
demands," he said.
The strike started on March 5 in Mpumalanga and spread to operations in
Limpopo.
Exxaro mines coal and heavy minerals and was formerly part of Kumba Resources.
Exxaro interdicts striking workers
Johannesburg - The Labour Court has granted Exxaro
Resources an interdict directing striking workers to return to work, the
company said on Tuesday.