Hundreds of workers at the Ekapa mine are picketing outside the company’s premises, protesting a decision to lay off 400 employees and accusing the mine of failing to pay money owed to them.
The industrial action follows the mine’s move to initiate layoffs, a decision the workers have labeled an “injustice.” The protesters have blocked the entrances to the mine, preventing anyone from going inside to work.
According to a report from the scene, the dispute centers on a lack of consultation and unpaid salaries. Lukelo Lala, an official for the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa), provided details on the sequence of events.
Lala stated that the mine initiated layoffs on September 22 without an agreement with the union. The company then applied to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) for a process referred to as “terrorism,” though the application was reportedly unsuccessful due to pending documentation.
As a result, Lala confirmed that 185 Numsa members among the 387 laid-off workers did not receive their salaries at the end of October.
“The actual number is 387, but out of the 387, 185 of those employees are our members and they have not received their salaries,” Lala said.
He warned of a significant problem if the situation continues unresolved, as the layoff is intended to last for 12 months. Without the CCMA application being approved, the workers face the prospect of no income for the better part of a year.
“We’re going to try anything and everything in our best as Numsa to even try to approach the labor court on an urgent basis to interdict this company from imposing these unilateral changes to members,” Lala stated.
Further engagements between the union and the mine were expected later in the day in an attempt to resolve the escalating dispute. For now, the picket continues as workers demand what they say is due to them.
