Johannesburg - Harmony Gold Mining Company [JSE:HAR] has issued an
ultimatum to 5 400 striking miners at its Kusasalethu operations, near
Carletonville, to return to work or be fired.
"The ultimatum calls on all striking workers at
Kusasalethu to return to work at 6am on Thursday, October 25, 2012," the
company said in a statement on Tuesday.
"Those who do not present themselves for work at that
time will be dismissed."
Harmony has already lost 20 days' production - close to
13,000 ounces of gold production - to the strike, it said.
The company announced on October 3 that workers had downed
tools.
This was after around 300 employees prevented workers on the
night shift from entering the mine the previous night, October 2.
Harmony Gold is one of the mines party to an agreement which
could be signed at the Chamber of Mines on Thursday to end a wave of pay
strikes in the gold mining industry.
The others are AngloGold Ashanti [JSE:ANG] and Gold Fields
[JSE:GFI].
A common call among striking workers has been for a pay
increase to R12 500 a month, which mining companies have said is not
affordable.
AngloGold Ashanti and Gold Fields have also resorted to
ultimatums to get their employees back to work.