Publications
Partners
Johannesburg - A total of 17 290.552 working hours were lost to illegal or unprotected strikes last year, Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant said on Tuesday.
"In 2012, a total of 99 strikes were recorded in the department strike data system. Out of 99 strikes, 45 strikes were classified as unprotected or unprocedural strikes," she said in a written reply to a question in Parliament.
Oliphant said according to the International Labour Organisation guidelines, the working hours lost were derived by multiplying the number of employees involved in each stoppage by the number of hours it lasted.
This was done with each industry and added together to get a national total.
Although community, social and personal services accounted for the most strikes, at 13, mining and quarrying had the most workers involved and working hours lost.
Of the total 118 215 workers involved in unprotected or unprocedural strikes, 100 847 were from the mining and quarrying sector.
Of the 17 290.552 hours lost last year, 16 503.206 were due to strikes in the same sector.
Oliphant said that besides the finance industry, all other industries were affected by unprotected/unprocedural strikes in 2012.
Unprocedural strikes were recorded in all provinces but the Free State.
She said the department searched and identified strikes statistics through daily newspapers, then followed up with companies to fill in Labour Relations Act forms.
The mining industry has been plagued by wildcat strikes over the last year.
The most significant of these was the strike at Lonmin'S [JSE:LON] Marikana mine outside Rustenburg last year, when 44 people died.
On August 16, police shot dead 34 miners. In the preceding week, 10 people, including two police officers and two security guards, were killed.
