A prominent miners' union in South Africa has said that its workers at Impala Platinum are set to strike indefinitely next week.

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) announced that employees have rejected the latest pay increase offer from the world's second-largest platinum producer.

According to Reuters, the company proposed rises of between 9.5 and ten per cent for workers in different categories, but the union is holding out for ten per cent across the board.

As a result, NUM Spokesman Lesiba Seshoka confirmed in an interview with the news provider that a strike could start as early as Monday or Tuesday next week until the situation is resolved.

He said: "We also disagreed on the duration of the deal. We want a one-year deal so that we can re-negotiate after one year when prices of platinum may have recovered, but they offered a two-year wage deal."

Mr Seshoka also revealed that the relevant mediating body has given the NUM permission to obtain a certificate to strike after talks collapsed late on Wednesday evening.

However, Bob Gilmour, a Spokesman for Impala, claimed that the company is open to meeting for further negotiations and will endeavour to avert any industrial action.

"We don't want a strike. It's not the ideal situation, loss of production is likely," he told Reuters.

"We are open to further discussions and hopefully we can resolve this. There are no talks scheduled, but we undoubtedly will try to meet the union."

The NUM had also scheduled a workers' strike at South African state power utility Eskom for last Thursday before eventually calling it off after reaching a wage agreement.

Courtesy: Platinum Today

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