Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Reuters NewMedia - Wednesday March 19, 2003
It said the dispute had been made more difficult because the striking workers had made no demands of management.
Implats said on Monday that work had stopped at some of its shafts in the North West Province. By Tuesday the strike had spread to most of the employees on the Impala Lease Area.
"Management continues to meet with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) to resolve the matter," Implats said in a statement.
"The situation is exacerbated by the fact that no demands have been made of management and that the continued work stoppage appears to be related to disagreements within the union".
Implats said attempts by the union to persuade workers to return to work on Tuesday were unsuccessful and that discussions between management and the union were continuing in order to identify potential solutions to the problem.
Implats, which produces an average one million ounces of platinum a year, said on Tuesday it was losing about 24 million rand ($2.93 million) a day in revenues from the loss of 2,700 ounces of daily platinum production.
Implats workers are unhappy with a funeral benefits deal reached by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) with Implats management.
Under the deal, all employees would get 10,000 rand ($1,220), over and above the 5,000 rand they already receive, to cover extra funeral costs. The NUM declared a dispute a earlier this year after the firm stopped paying some funeral costs for employees who died from non-mining causes such as HIV/AIDS.
South African mining firms have one of the highest infection rates in the country, which has more people living with AIDS and the virus that causes it than anywhere else in the world.
Shares in Implats were down 1.05 percent or 500 cents at 470 rand by 1330 GMT, off an early morning high of 479 rand, and underperforming a 0.5 percent gain in the wider market .JALSH . Its losses were slightly heavier than those in rival Anglo American Platinum AMSJ.J .
Analysts have said the strike will only become a cause for concern should it last more than a week, when Implats will have made significant inroads into its stocks.
The strike has had little influence on world prices, with spot platinum XPT= slipping to $678.00 an ounce from $689.50 by 1330 GMT.
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