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Mineworkers Union Urges SA Platinum Strikers to Continue Rally

Mineworkers Union Urges SA Platinum Strikers to Continue Rally

Written by Zandi Shabalala | From Reuters

The president of South Africa’s striking AMCU union urged its members on Wednesday to remain strong in the face of efforts by the world’s top platinum firms to woo miners to end a 16-week stoppage, the longest and costliest ever to hit the sector.

“Let’s stay strong. Yes it’s difficult, but let’s hold each other by the hand and stay strong. Onward!” Joseph Mathunjwa told thousands of strikers at a rally near the Marikana operations of London-listed producer Lonmin.

In a dramatic show of force, the strikers, many wielding sticks, roared their approval to Mathunjwa’s remarks, which sent spot platinum to two-month highs over $1,470 an ounce.

Earlier, AMCU members had prevented other workers from trying to return to Lonmin’s shafts, thwarting the company’s efforts to end the strike.

Anglo American Platinum and Impala Platinum have also been hit by the strike over pay, which has brought to a halt 40 percent of global production of the precious metal used for catalytic-converters in automobiles.

Lonmin had been aiming on Wednesday for a “mass return” of workers. The trio of producers have said many of the strikers have signaled a willingness to accept the latest pay offer by cell phone SMS, emails and other means. It was not immediately clear how many workers tried to return to the shafts.

But Mathunjwa told the rally, held near the site where police shot dead 34 striking AMCU members in August 2102, that “the spirit of the workers will not be not be broken by SMSs.”

Read more at Reuters