Johannesburg - President Jacob Zuma said on Monday the Association of Mine and Construction Workers (Amcu) is being irresponsible by dragging a platinum sector wage strike out for nearly four months.
"The very fact that you can introduce a kind of threshold that you are not prepared to move on, it says there's something wrong with Amcu," Zuma, who is vying for a second term in elections later this week, told a news conference.
"The strike has gone on too long. The strike is not helping workers."There's a limit to a strike. You can't just have it forever. You can't prolong that thing forever."
Zuma, a former trade unionist himself, said union leaders had a responsibility to ensure two things - that they fought for better conditions and wages for workers, and protected their jobs.
"I find there's an irresponsibility element here. You can't go on with a strike that at the end makes them lose their jobs. That is irresponsible.
"In any negotiations, you must be ready to give and take. You must be ready to compromise."
Zuma said the government was monitoring the strike and was ready to help employers and workers reach a solution.
Amcu members downed tools on January 23, demanding a basic salary of R12 500 per month.
Producers Anglo American Platinum [JSE:AMS], Lonmin [JSE:LON] and Impala Platinum [JSE:IMP] are offering raises and allowances amounting to the same figure but staggered until 2017.
Estimates are that so far the strike has cost employees over R7bn in income, and producers around R15.9bn in revenue.