JOHANNESBURG Feb 18 (Reuters) – Impala Platinum
, the world’s second-largest platinum producer, has
agreed to re-instate all 17,200 workers who were dismissed
following an illegal strike, aiming to end a dispute that
paralysed the company’s biggest mine, the miners’ union said on
Saturday.
South African riot police fired tear gas, rubber bullets and
water cannon this week at hundreds of striking miners who went
on the rampage at Implats’ Rustenburg plant, the world’s single
biggest platinum mine.
Production at Rustenburg, which accounts for 60 percent of
Implat’s output, came to a halt a month ago after the company
sacked 17,200 employees following a Jan. 12 wildcat strike over
bonuses. The strike is costing the company an average of 3,000
ounces of platinum a day.
“The company agreed to re-employ all the 17,200 workers and
that as soon as all the workers are back at work, both the
National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and Implats will meet to
engage on all outstanding issues,” the NUM said in a statement.
The union urged all workers to return to work next week and
said it would call for a general strike at Implats should the
company fail to deliver on its promises to re-hire all of the
dismissed employees.
Since the strike began, the price of platinum, a key
ingredient in catalytic converters in cars, has climbed nearly 9
percent, in part because of fears about supply disruptions.
South Africa is home to 80 percent of global platinum reserves.
(Reporting by Agnieszka Flak; Editing by Susan Fenton)
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