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JOHANNESBURG. — More than 800 mineworkers yesterday renewed their strike at Glencore Koornfontein Mine in Mpumalanga Province in protest against retrenchment and substandard severance payments.The strike went on peacefully against mining giant Glencore which refuses to pay a decent retrenchment package, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said in a statement.
The strike kicked off more than one month ago when Glencore served NUM with the notice of retrenchment.
Glencore had offered the workers one week of service per year in the Koornfontein mine, and in other operations it would pay three weeks.
Workers in Koornfontein not only have to deal with losing their jobs but also an unfair settlement for the many years they produced coal for Glencore, the NUM said. These retrenched workers have a zero chance of employment post retrenchment, said the union.
“This is in essence a death sentence,” NUM Secretary General Frans Baleni said.
“Today marks the 49th day of a peaceful strike fighting a multinational company which refuses to pay a decent retrenchment package to 24 workers,” Baleni said.
“We are mobilising our International unions affiliated to industriALL to join us in attacking this unacceptable conduct,” said Baleni.
IndustriALL is a global union federation, founded in Copenhagen on June 19, 2012. It represents more than 50 million working people of 140 countries working in different sectors.
“Glencore’s refusal to work with trade unions to find a reasonable solution to this conflict is outrageous. We fully support the fight of the miners and urge Glencore to settle this matter urgently,” IndustriALL Director of mining Glen Mpufane said. — Xinhua.
Online Reporter