* Workers want 35 pct pay rise
* Zambia Sugar says strike illegal
LUSAKA, June 13 (Reuters) – About 3,000 workers at Zambia
Sugar, a unit of South Africa’s Illovo Sugar,
have gone on strike demanding a 35 percent pay rise, the company
said on Wednesday.
Zambia Sugar said in a statement that operations at its
Nakambala Sugar Estate, about 130 km (80 miles) south of Lusaka,
had been disrupted following the illegal strike, which started
on Tue day.
“The union has addressed workers and asked them to return to
work immediately and advised that the strike action is illegal,”
Zambia Sugar said.
The company said any employee who did not report to work
would be deemed to have breached their employment contract and
dismissed. Union officials could not immediately be reached for
comment.
Zambia Sugar expects its sugar output to increase by more
than 7 percent to over 400,000 tonnes in the current 2012/2013
season from last year.
Wage negotiations between Zambia Sugar and the union began
in January but collapsed in May after the company said it could
not meet their demands.
Zambia Sugar subsequently took the matter to court but the
workers went on strike before the court could make a ruling, the
company said.
(Reporting by Chris Mfula; Editing by Ed Stoddard)
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