July21, 2011
By Jana Marais, Bloomberg
Anglo American Plc (AAL), Xstrata Plc (XTA) and Exxaro Resources Ltd. (EXX) expect workers at their coal mines in South Africa to start striking over pay on the night of July 24, the Chamber of Mines said.
The National Union of Mineworkers, South Africa’s biggest, is yet to serve notice of its intention to strike, Frans Barker, the lead negotiator on behalf of the coal producers, said in an e-mailed response to questions. An estimated 30,000 workers are affected, he said.
The union is demanding a pay increase of 14 percent, while coal companies are offering 7 percent, and 8.5 percent to entry- level employees. Annual inflation in the country is currently 5 percent, the highest in 15 months.
The pay dispute is one of several affecting South Africa’s mining and energy industries as workers push for above-inflation wage gains that they say are needed to address the inequalities caused by apartheid, a system of institutionalized racial discrimination that ended in 1994. South Africa is the biggest supplier of power-plant coal to some European countries and is selling an increasing amount of the fuel to India.
Gold miners at companies including AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (ANG) may walk out if talks with employers scheduled for July 25 fail, the NUM said, while miners at diamond producer De Beers plan to start a strike tomorrow, and oil company workers have been on strike for more than a week. Engineering workers ended a strike after winning a pay rise of double the inflation rate.
Coal supplies
There’s no “immediate short-term danger” to coal exports or supplies to national power utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., Barker said yesterday in a telephone interview.
“Eskom’s stocks are relatively high and the companies themselves also have stockpiles,” Barker said. Eskom is involved in its own wage talks and the NUM has rejected a 5.5 percent pay rise offer made by the company, it said today.
Other coal companies involved in the talks are Optimum Coal Holdings (OPT) Ltd., Kangra Coal Ltd. and Delmas Coal Ltd. Delmas Coal, a closely held company, has made a lower offer of 7.5 percent for entry level workers and 6 percent for other miners.
Exxaro shares were little changed at 186.38 rand at 3:47 p.m. in Johannesburg trading while Optimum declined 1.9 percent to 25.51 rand. In London, Anglo was little changed at 2,979.5 pence while Xstrata dropped 1.2 percent to 1,348 pence.
Exxaro is based in Pretoria while Optimum has its headquarters in Johannesburg. Xstrata is based in Zug, Switzerland, and Anglo is based in London.
By Jana Marais, Bloomberg
Anglo American Plc (AAL), Xstrata Plc (XTA) and Exxaro Resources Ltd. (EXX) expect workers at their coal mines in South Africa to start striking over pay on the night of July 24, the Chamber of Mines said.
The National Union of Mineworkers, South Africa’s biggest, is yet to serve notice of its intention to strike, Frans Barker, the lead negotiator on behalf of the coal producers, said in an e-mailed response to questions. An estimated 30,000 workers are affected, he said.
The union is demanding a pay increase of 14 percent, while coal companies are offering 7 percent, and 8.5 percent to entry- level employees. Annual inflation in the country is currently 5 percent, the highest in 15 months.
The pay dispute is one of several affecting South Africa’s mining and energy industries as workers push for above-inflation wage gains that they say are needed to address the inequalities caused by apartheid, a system of institutionalized racial discrimination that ended in 1994. South Africa is the biggest supplier of power-plant coal to some European countries and is selling an increasing amount of the fuel to India.
Gold miners at companies including AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (ANG) may walk out if talks with employers scheduled for July 25 fail, the NUM said, while miners at diamond producer De Beers plan to start a strike tomorrow, and oil company workers have been on strike for more than a week. Engineering workers ended a strike after winning a pay rise of double the inflation rate.
Coal supplies
There’s no “immediate short-term danger” to coal exports or supplies to national power utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., Barker said yesterday in a telephone interview.
“Eskom’s stocks are relatively high and the companies themselves also have stockpiles,” Barker said. Eskom is involved in its own wage talks and the NUM has rejected a 5.5 percent pay rise offer made by the company, it said today.
Other coal companies involved in the talks are Optimum Coal Holdings (OPT) Ltd., Kangra Coal Ltd. and Delmas Coal Ltd. Delmas Coal, a closely held company, has made a lower offer of 7.5 percent for entry level workers and 6 percent for other miners.
Exxaro shares were little changed at 186.38 rand at 3:47 p.m. in Johannesburg trading while Optimum declined 1.9 percent to 25.51 rand. In London, Anglo was little changed at 2,979.5 pence while Xstrata dropped 1.2 percent to 1,348 pence.
Exxaro is based in Pretoria while Optimum has its headquarters in Johannesburg. Xstrata is based in Zug, Switzerland, and Anglo is based in London.
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