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NUM strikes over retrenchment package

Johannesburg - National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) members at Glencore [JSE:GLN] Koornfontein mine in Mpumalanga are on strike over retrenchment packages, the union said.

Friday marked the 49th day of a peaceful strike fighting a multinational company which refuses to pay a decent retrenchment package to 24 workers only, claiming that it does not want to set a precedent, said NUM general secretary Frans Baleni.

"They want to pay one week for each completed year of service, contrary to the practice in the industry of two weeks for each completed year of service," he said.

He said the company served the NUM with a notice of retrenchment and retrenchment payment in July, as per the Basic Conditions of Employment Act.

Glencore spokesperson Gugulethu Maqetuka said the strike had had a negative impact on production at the operation.

"The offer made by the company to the NUM representatives at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) remains open for consideration by employees," Maqetuka said.

Baleni said the retrenched workers had no chance of employment post retrenchment. "This is in essence a death sentence."

He said the union had involved the CCMA in an attempt to end the strike.

"The NUM will fight tooth and nail to make sure that its members get what they are demanding. We remain fearless, committed, dedicated and unshaken in fighting for our members at Glencore Koornfontein mine in Mpumalanga."

Maqetuka said Glencore was offering:

- Four weeks compensation for year one;

- Two weeks compensation for years two to six years;

- One week compensation for years seven onwards, and;

- Two months’ notice.

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