JOHANNESBURG – Africa’s biggest iron ore producer, Kumba Resources, yesterday entered a fifth day of a strike by some 6 000 of its workers, but union officials said the sides were not far apart in their positions.
Talks between three unions and Kumba, which is majority owned by mining giant Anglo American Plc, ended on Wednesday with the company making a new offer that fell just shy of the unions’ wage demands. Union negotiators are calling for a nine per cent pay rise for higher earners and a 10,5 per cent rise for others.”We are willing to continue engaging them until a solution is reached soon.For now, though, we have decided to take this new offer back to our members for their response,” Eddie Majadibodu, chief negotiator for the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), said in a statement late on Wednesday.The strike has disrupted iron ore and coal mining output at Kumba and weighed on the company’s shares, which were flat at 124 rand on Wednesday, against a firmer Top-40 blue chip index, after falling as much as 1,2 per cent.Kumba Chief Executive Officer Con Fauconnier, however, said he expected the ongoing strike to have little impact on earnings.The company posted on Wednesday a 61 per cent rise in half-year headline earnings per share.Nampa-ReutersUnion negotiators are calling for a nine per cent pay rise for higher earners and a 10,5 per cent rise for others.”We are willing to continue engaging them until a solution is reached soon.For now, though, we have decided to take this new offer back to our members for their response,” Eddie Majadibodu, chief negotiator for the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), said in a statement late on Wednesday.The strike has disrupted iron ore and coal mining output at Kumba and weighed on the company’s shares, which were flat at 124 rand on Wednesday, against a firmer Top-40 blue chip index, after falling as much as 1,2 per cent.Kumba Chief Executive Officer Con Fauconnier, however, said he expected the ongoing strike to have little impact on earnings.The company posted on Wednesday a 61 per cent rise in half-year headline earnings per share.Nampa-Reuters
