Celani Sikhakhane
The 444 striking workers at the Zululand Anthracite Colliery (ZAC) mine have rejected a Labour Court ruling which instructed them to honour their contracts and go back to work.
On Monday the strike at the Okhukho mine in Nongoma entered its fourth week.
Some workers who spoke with Scrolla.Africa made it clear that they won’t go back to work until their employer meets their demands.
They said they want management to listen to them first, instead of going to court.
“Look, we were not hired by the court, therefore no court of any kind will force us to go back to work,” one worker told Scrolla.Africa.
“All we want is for ZAC to listen to our grievances. The biggest problem here is that we are suffering but no one wants to listen to us,” they added.
Those who spoke to Scrolla.Africa said that they don’t want their names to be published because they will be targeted by their employer.
ZAC management has urged the striking miners to come back to work. The company – South Africa’s largest producer of anthracite – was forced to cease operations last Tuesday and has not yet restarted them.
Workers meanwhile are demanding more support from their unions, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU). They want the national leaders of both NUM and AMCU to come down to Okhukho to address them.
“We want our national leaders to come here to talk to us because this crisis is beyond the regional leaders of our unions,” one worker said.
ZAC’s public relations company, Menar Communications, said that the workers are demanding more than a 50% salary increase.
In a statement, they said: “ZAC management has communicated its position to all stakeholders regarding the continued illegal work stoppage.
“ZAC striking workers stated that they will continue with their illegal strike action until their wage demands are met. These demands will at some instances amount to a 50% increase and in some instances even more than that.”
