Cape Town – The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) will down tools at the Nkomati Nickel mine in Mpumalanga on Sunday.
The Nkomati Mine is operated by African Rainbow Minerals [JSE:ARI], owned by billionaire mining magnate Patrice Motsepe, and Norilsk Nickel.
The strike will begin with the night shift on Sunday at about 19:00.
The NUM and Nkomati Mine are differing on issues relating to car allowances and long service awards, NUM deputy general secretary, William Makgabo Mabapa said in a statement.
Num has taken issue with the company’s car allowance policy which makes provision for management and a “few employees”.
“The NUM position is that all employees must belong to Group Scheme Car Insurance for Nkomati Mine," said Mabapa.
The second issue is the long service awards. The NUM wants the long service award to start at five years where the company must pay R3 000 and for 10 years it must pay R6 000.
“The company wants to start paying the long service award at 10 years for only R3 000," according to Mabapa.
The strike will continue indefinitely until the NUM demands are complied with, said Mabapa.