* Mass sackings just part of negotiations
* Platinum, gold mines under financial pressure
* Gold Fields “ultimatum” falls due on Thursday
By Ed Cropley
JOHANNESBURG, Oct 17 (Reuters) – According to his “final
ultimatum” to wildcat strikers, Gold Fields chief
executive Nick Holland is hours away from firing 23,000 miners.
In the poisonous atmosphere of the worst industrial unrest
in South Africa since the end of apartheid, everything points to
him making good on his threat on Thursday, adding to the 15,000
men already sacked by platinum mines in the last two weeks.
The numbers are dramatic, and have political implications
for President Jacob Zuma and his African National Congress
(ANC), since each miner probably supports up to 10 dependents.
The reality, however, is that the mass dismissals are just
another tactic – albeit a hard-ball one – in the long standoff
between management and workers over pay and conditions. When a
deal is finally reached, most will get their jobs back.
Re-hiring thousands of miners may be a logistical nightmare
for the likes of Gold Fields, the world’s fourth largest bullion
producer, but the bosses know – as do the workers – that the
company has few other options if it is to restart production.
Continued…
