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New mass strike hits Gold Fields mine in South Africa
Posted: 10 September 2012 2032

JOHANNESBURG - Around 15,000 workers have downed tools in South Africa at a Gold Fields mine west of Johannesburg in the latest work stoppage to hit the vital mining sector, the company said on Monday.

The strike, followed by around a third of the workforce, is the second at the KDC mine, one of the company's three gold mines in South Africa.

Gold Fields is the world's fourth gold producer and South Africa's second.

"Employees of the west section of the KDC Gold Mine... on the West Rand in South Africa have been engaging in an unlawful and unprotected strike since the start of the night shift" Sunday evening, Gold Fields said in a statement.

"Approximately 15,000 employees are participating in the strike and all production at KDC West has been suspended as a result," it added.

A strike by 12,000 mine workers at KDC's east section near Johannesburg ended on September 5 after a seven-day stoppage. The workers had demanded a change in leadership at their local union branch.

The reason for the latest strike was still unclear, "but we hope to gain clarity as soon as possible," said company head Peter Turner.

Gold Fields said its senior management was on the mine "engaging with the striking employees, the various unions and other structures, with a view to finding a speedy and peaceful resolution to the unlawful strike."

The latest Johannesburg strike follows a deadly wildcat strike at platinum giant Lonmin's Marikana mine, which started exactly a month ago and left 44 people dead, 34 of them shot by police in a crackdown.

The Lonmin unrest has been blamed in part on rivalry between the main National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and a splinter union Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU).

Lonimn workers were still refusing to return to work on Monday despite a "peace accord" reached by one of the unions and the mine management.

Experts see labour unrest continuing in the mining sector until a key conference of the the ruling ANC party slated for December.

"It's almost become contagious," said Crispen Chinguno of the sociology department at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.

"Although workers have genuine labour grievances, it's gone well beyond labour unrest.

"Some politicians are hijacking the disgruntlement among the workers because the mining sector is at the core of political, social and economic order in South Africa," he said.

Gold Fields, which is listed on the Johannesburg and New York stock exchanges, produces 3.5 million gold equivalent ounces (nearly 100 tonnes) a year, according to its website.

The company operates eight mines in Australia, Ghana, Peru and South Africa.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world_business/view/1225173/1/.html