NUM, Msobo Coal in talks to resolve strike over lay-offs

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the Department of Mineral Resources and Msobo Coal are set to meet on Wednesday morning to resolve a dispute at Msobo that has seen NUM members embark on a strike on Monday.

skeeze via pixabay

The company issued letters of termination on 23 November 2015, according to NUM.

NUM Highveld Regional Organiser Bongani Tshabalala on Tuesday said the union is pushing for the company to reverse its decision to retrench workers at the mine. NUM has accused Msobo of failing to consult it "meaningfully" on the retrenchments.

"They did not consider avoidance measures as per the stakeholder agreement signed by Chamber of Mines, labour and government. Our view as the NUM is that the purpose of this retrenchment is to dismiss permanent employees and replace them with contractors. It is clear that Msobo Coal is behaving exactly like the Optimum Glencore Mine," the union said.

Tshabalala also disputed the company's assertion that it has resorted to retrenchments because of financial problems. "The mine is profitable. Our own auditors have confirmed that the company is liquid," he said.

The strike will not affect Eskom's coal supply as Msobo does not supply the utility with coal, according to Eskom.

Source: Fin24

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