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South African gold miners go on strike

*This one's for you rogue!... and not only that but it's certainly not small news... let's see if this develops into something bigger!>>>

South African gold miners go on strike
The Associated Press/JOHANNESBURG, South Africa

AUG. 7 2:41 P.M. ET Thousands of miners stopped work Sunday evening for the first strike in South Africa's key gold sector since 1987 after wage negotiations collapsed last week.

The strike is expected to cost the industry up to 130 million rands (US$20 million; euro16 million) a day, according to the Chamber of Mines, which represents employers.

The National Union of Mineworkers said up to 80,000 workers were expected to join the strike, which started at the beginning of the evening shift at 6 p.m. (1600GMT). The major gold companies could not immediately confirm the figure.

Some 10,000 members from the Solidarity union are due to join the strike on Monday afternoon and may be joined by members of a third union later in the week.

The chamber is offering pay hikes of 4.5 percent and 5 percent, depending on the position. The unions argue this is less than the increase in cost of living, which they put at 5.7 percent.

The NUM is demanding increases of between 7 percent and 8 percent, down from earlier demands of 10 percent to 12 percent, and other benefits.

The gold industry is one of South Africa's main export earners.

In a memorandum last week, Solidarity argued that employers can afford the bigger increases. It said prospects for the industry for the year ahead were "looking rosy," with the gold price on an upward curve and international economic instability prompting investors to seek stability in gold.

Solidarity said the average director's pay increase for the past five years was 15 percent, compared to 8 percent for miners.

Chamber of Mines spokesman Frans Barker told the South African Press Association that some companies had individually improved their offers in an effort to reach a settlement, but that he could not disclose details yet.


LINK: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8BR5BTO1.htm?campaign_id=apn_home_down&chan=db